The Ballad of Shadow the Hedgehog
by ShadowWeasel
Summary: In the dusted plains of the Wild West, Shadow the hedgehog wanders without purpose or past. Crushed beneath the tyranny of Robotnik and Metal Sonic, Westown faces daily terror and death, and a drunken, tired Sonic the hedgehog does nothing. When the mysterious stranger crosses paths with the town-drunk, the people know that all hell is about to break loose.
1. Chapter 1

There was no thinking as Shadow the hedgehog fired six rounds from his revolving pistol. There was, however, the irrefutable stench of smoldering gunpowder, the spray of vibrantly scarlet blood, and the sound of souls being sent to hell.

The hedgehog in the left corner of the saloon spasmed violently as two balls of lead tore through his ribcage and shattered bone. One splattered the remains of his heart across the back-wall and painted the browning oak a dank crimson.

The two weasels on Shadow's right were destroyed by a pair of bullets. One through the eye. One down the throat. Both screamed and bled and writhed as life fled their bodies.

The rat on the upper level proved slightly more difficult, but none could escape the wrath of a discharging forty-five revolver. He screeched as the round ripped apart his neck, and as he clawed futiley at the wound the railing beneath him snapped into several pieces. There was a sickening snapping noise when he made contact with the hardwood floor below. Not before splintering to shards the table below, of course.

Now all that was left was the goddamned...

"Bartender," the graying hedgehog was saying as he jabbed a sawed-off shotgun into Shadow's skull. The ultimate life form froze as the cold steel touched just below his ear. Smart men knew that the area under the ear was the weakest part of the skull. This bartender happened to be a smart man. "Nobody suspects the bartender."

Shadow stood perfectly still. A slight breeze wafted through the now-empty and bloodied tavern, sending the black hedgehog's tattered trench-coat into a billowing wave. The wine-colored material of the jacket was stained with dust and gunpowder, much in contrast to the barkeep's attire.

The silvery hedgehog wore a gold-rimmed monicle, a maroon vest and bowtie, and a midnight-dark bowler-hat. He was grinning at the black and red hedgehog, certain that victory was his.

"Now turn the hell around, gunslinger," he barked. "Lemme' see your face."

Shadow did so. Blood-red eyes ringed with the darkness of a wandering mercenary. Glaring orbs of fire that concealed pain and misery. Killer's eyes.

"Hey," the bartender sneered, "you _are_ the one that Robotnik's after. Wonder what the hell for?"

"How about you ask him?" Shadow suggested quietly. The plan was forming in his mind even as he spoke. Instincts working like clockwork. Brain running at a million miles an hour.

"How 'bout you shut your goddamned mouth?" the older man snapped. "You got a lot of rings on your head, Mister Shadow. And you're worth a helluva' lot more kicking than bleeding. So how's about you put your hands right on up there for me?"

The black hedgehog raised his gloved palms defensively, dangling his pistol between his thumb and index-finger. The monicle-wearing man watched the gun carefully.

"Drop the six-shooter."

Shadow cocked his head slightly and cast him a wondering look.

"I said drop it, goddamn it!"

With a shrug, the ultimate life form let the gun fall to the ground. The barkeep kept his eyes locked with the revolver as it went, unaware of just how fast the infamous Black Blur really was.

It didn't take much. A swift parody of a roundhouse kick across the countertop was enough to send a hellish ringing sound through the old man's head and ears, and the shotgun tumbled from his grasp as he reeled backwards and clutched the sides of his face. Shadow moved with the flowing motion of the kick, twirling around and snatching up his still-falling pistol out of the air with his left hand, and picking the sawed-off off of the table with his right. He aimed with his left, cocking the gun and chambering the sixth and final bullet.

Bang.

**Wanted for Murder and Arson:**

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

**Reward: **

**500 Rings Dead**

**1000 Rings Alive**

Sonic the hedgehog could only watch as another poor soul was dragged kicking and screaming into the blistering sunlight and thrown into the sharp, hot granules of sand that made up the wide road that cut through the center of Westown. Who it was this time, he couldn't be certain. He didn't recognize the man's face. But that didn't make the terror and heartbreak any less real.

"No! No, please! I didn't know! Please, let me go!"

What the crime was this time, Sonic wasn't sure of either. But that never mattered anyway. Not anymore, at least.

"I'm sorry! Just let me go, and I won't do it again, I swear!"

How many people had been executed this week... hell, Sonic was sure that he wasn't the _only _one that had lost count.

Metal Sonic's indigo skin gleamed and reflected beams of pallor, yellow light. Waves of heat hovered off of his body in patterned distortsions of air. The dark brown, leather hat cast deathly black shadows onto the earth below and concealed only half of the chrome-fiend's face. One could still easily make out the pair of bleeding, crimson eyes glaring through the darkness. Claw-like hands portruded menacingly from the sleeves of a dirt-black overcoat, and one talon waited patiently just above the trigger of a silvery, pristine bolt-action rifle.

The poor, shivering husk that had once been a dog cowered as Metal Sonic cocked the rifle. "Oh, God..."

"Citizen Kennedy," the sheriff from hell spoke in an even, deep tone that vibrated the sand and sent shivers down the spines of the innocent, "you are charged with crimes against our leader Robotnik and his people."

The brown dog drew crosses and crucifixes over his broad chest, quoting prayers and words of saviors. "Our father in heaven..."

"In the interest of justice and safety..."

"... hallowed be thy name."

"... you are hereby ordered to be executed."

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done..."

"Scheduled to occur..."

"...on earth as it is in heaven."

"Immediately."

There was the taut, echoing retort of a rifle as Citizen Kennedy's brains were splattered across the sand. Gray smoke rolled and roiled from the barrel and clouded the scenery in a dark cloud. Pink blood and speckles of greymatter splashed across the golden clots of sand below, and the corpse of one man was left to rot in the sun and cook for the vultures.

Sonic shook his head sorrowfully and choked down a shot of whiskey as Metal Sonic took a moment to load another bullet into his gun. Damned machine always had to have things perfect, the blue hedgehog thought with disdain as the robot marched off to patrol the perimeter of Westown once more, not bothering to wipe away the bloody remains of the innocent that was now splattered across his face and half of the town.

"Another shot, Sonic?"

Sonic glanced over at Knuckles the echidna, who patiently awaited his most loyal, and no doubt most depressed, customer. The red echidna was already pouring the delicious gold-brown concoction into the glass before he could say yes.

"One of these days, Knuckles," the hedgehog vowed, murmuring his words in a slurred blend of drunkenness and heroism, "I'm going to put a hole in that bastard's skull. And we're going to watch him bleed his wirey guts all over the goddamned sand until he dies."

The bartender sighed and readied another bottle of alcohol. Third one today. For Sonic alone. "If you say so, Sonic," he agreed tiredly.

And then everything changed as one shadowy hedgehog in a blood-red trench-coat entered the saloon, and the wind sent the rickety double-doors fluttering against the walls with a wooden crack. Deep red eyes locked with toxic green ones, and all hell was soon to follow.


	2. Chapter 2

Knuckles the echidna had never before seen the man that stood idle in the doorway to the tavern, the coattails of his dark red jacket flapping in the sandy winds of the outside world. The shadowy features of the black hedgehog were unfamiliar to the seasoned barkeep, who could not help but cast a curious glance at the stranger before him. But the first words out of the man's mouth were, "Whiskey. Don't hold back." And so, Knuckles did not care or wonder about who the visitor was or his intentions. The only thing that mattered was that he wanted a drink.

"You got it," the bartender affirmed, fetching a shot-glass from the shelf below.

The stranger took his seat at the counter, placing himself next a rather sad-looking sack of blue fur and flesh. Sonic looked up from his empty drink to see the man beside him staring at him, and he huffed a breath of alcohol-stained air.

"The hell are you staring at?" he snapped.

Shadow replied by shifting his gaze to the working bartender. Knuckles brought his drink without delay, setting it on the oak countertop with a solid clack. The ultimate life form coiled his fingers around the drink and sighed quietly to himself.

That was about the time that things went to hell.

Sonic, drunk out of his skull, mindlessly grabbed for a whiskey to swallow. The closest one just so happened to belong to a cold-blooded killer. He snatched the glass from the black hedgehog's gloved hands and downed the alcohol in a meager half-second. But this, unfortunately, failed to impress the thirsty Shadow the hedgehog.

Knuckles glanced up from his cleaning and felt his face drain of color. "S-Sonic," he stammered, "that's not your..."

Shadow raised an open palm to signal silence, and he turned to focus his attention on the blue hedgehog. A sorry excuse for a man; tattered leather vest, bandolier of pistol ammo, a rusted badge that probably shined with pride and color years ago, and a beaten ten-gallon atop the outfit.

Sonic cast Shadow a sideways glare when the ultimate life form spoke. "That was mine."

Frankly, though, the fastest drinker alive didn't give a damn. And to prove it, he raised his favorite finger in reply.

The gun was in his mouth before either the bartender or the drunk knew it. Sonic gagged reflexively as the steely taste of a gun barrel invaded his throat. Shadow pulled back the hammer and locked eyes with the drink-stealing bastard.

"No... no guns!"

The black hedgehog pressed the revolver deeper into Sonic's gullet.

"I said no guns!"

Sonic managed a stupefied grin from beneath the threat of death, causing Shadow to utter an animalistic growl.

Then there was the unmistakable sound of shotgun-shells being chambered. "I'm telling you to drop the goddamned gun," Knuckles warned one final time, aiming the twin barrels at Shadow's head.

Damned bartenders. Shadow offered something of a sigh as he holstered his weapon reluctantly, all the while refusing to let his eyes off of Sonic's.

Then Knuckles shifted the sights to said drunkard. "_Both _of you," he snarled.

There was a moment of stunned silence as the man who was once called the fastest draw alive let his machine-pistol fall to the ground. Shadow's eyes widened when he realized that the whole time he had been holding the Blue Blur by the throat, he had been holding him by the gut. And a German-engineered machine-pistol could've done a helluva' lot more damage to one's stomach than a forty-five to one's neck.

And so, Knuckles the echidna let out a sigh of relief as another crisis was avoided.

Of course, this was before Shadow concluded that if guns weren't allowed, then fists most certainly were.

...

Amelia Rose knew that what she was doing was wrong, walking around in her father's fine clothes and collar, his favorite Bible in hand. She was aware that it was normally her father's job to stand outside of the saloon each morning and quote verses discouraging drinking and violence and profanity. And she also was certain that on top of all of this, it was dangerous for her _or _her father to do this each day of the week.

But she was hell-bent on accomplishing this task. With Father Rose sick in bed, Amy was the only one who could fulfill these duties. She had always been a determined young woman when it came to responsibility, and she wasn't about to let something as simple as a head cold keep the holy word from being spread to the people of Westown.

So, Amy straightened the white collar around her neck, checked the buttons on her black coat, and cleared her throat as she opened the book and began to read aloud for passerby to hear.

That was until Sonic the hedgehog suddenly barreled out the doors of the saloon, tumbling backwards and somersaulting down the steps and into the dust. There was blood running down his chin, and a fresh bruise on his face.

Amy squealed in shock as the smelly drunk nearly landed on her dress-shoes.

Sonic stumbled to his feet and cocked his head when he saw the woman dressed in man's clothing. But it wasn't the strangest thing he had ever seen, so he shrugged and tipped his hat in her direction. "Morning, Miss Rose," he slurred.

Before she could retort, a red and black blur leapt from the tavern-doors and tackled the man into the dirt. Shadow landed another punch before Sonic shoved him off and delivered a kick to his abdomen.

The stranger wobbled backwards and directly into the still-shocked and dumbfounded Amelia Rose. The dark hedgehog turned to face the girl and growled when his red irises found her own jade ones. "Get the hell outta' the way."

Amy scurried backwards and into the darkness of the overhang that protruded from the roof of the saloon, watching as the two hedgehogs engaged in a brutal fistfight.

Sonic lunged forward and crossed his fist with Shadow's nose, and blood spewed from his nostrils and spattered the sand with red fluid. The black hedgehog countered with a swift kick to the knee, which succeeded in crippling the drunk and sending him to his knees. Sonic could only watch, paralyzed in pain, as Shadow landed an ear-ringing blow to the side of his head and sent him toppling to the ground.

"Get up," the ultimate life form commanded, lifting Sonic by the throat. "Get the hell up."

"Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all."

Sonic stopped struggling and Shadow ceased fighting at the sound of a woman's voice. The red-eyed hedgehog shot a look at the girl in preacher's clothes, confused by her words. "The hell are you talking about?"

Amy stood from the shadows and swallowed hard as she flipped through the pages of her Bible for another verse. "As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him," she quoted.

Shadow only stared at her, and Sonic was likewise confused and still.

"The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out."

Then Sonic shook his head and said, "Oh, Christ. This Bible-bullshit? We'll quit fightin' if you just shut your trap, alright?"

Amy's cheeks turned scarlet when the town-drunk said Bible-bullshit, but she agreed with a nod.

Shadow watched in bewilderment as the blue hedgehog simply walked away from the fight after being told to stop by some girl in man's clothes. He blinked and looked at the pink hedgehog before him, who was now standing proudly with her Bible held close to her breast. She looked at him hesitantly, glancing away once or twice, but then smiled and extended a hand to the stranger.

"Welcome to Westown, stranger. My name is Amelia Rose."


	3. Chapter 3

The blood was crusty and dry on Metal Sonic's mouth-less face by the time he saw the cluster of hedgehogs and rats and dogs approaching from the north. From his place upon the bench, he could see the bronze and silver twinkle of bouncing firearms and blades in the light of the noontime sun. A dust-engulfed posse of misfits, from the looks of it. _Armed _misfits, nonetheless. Peeling his bolt-action from the inside of his coat, he stood to greet the potentially hostile strangers.

The group of seven met the indigo hedgehog halfway, stopping several yards away from the gate into Westown. The leader, a dark green hedgehog in a black leather jacket, sauntered up to the lawman with one hand on his belt.

"Howdy," the man said as he pushed a pair of dark, tinted spectacles up onto his nose. "There a problem?"

"State your name and business," Metal Sonic demanded, his stance tense and his rifle cocked.

The men behind the green hedgehog seemed nervous in the presence of the android. But the leader seemed unfazed. "The name's Scourge," he said. "We're just passing through to get to Rainwater, just down the way. Satisfied?"

Metal Sonic might have been satisfied, had it not been for the criminal database in his brain that told him that this man was wanted for murder, burglary, and grand theft. The men behind the outlaw shifted and muttered to one another in hushed tones; no doubt members of some sort of gang-following. And so instead of an audible answer, the sheriff offered the barrel of his gun in reply.

Scourge flinched at the speed with which the weapon had been readied. "Hey! What the hell are you-?"

The gunfight was over in seven meager seconds.

One.

The dog guarding the rear of the group pulled his own pistol at the sight of Metal Sonic's rifle. His finger brushed the trigger just as a ball of lead exploded through his forehead and plastered gouts of blood across the sand. Hesitation was for the weak. The dog had hesitated.

Two.

The shot rang out. Sound caught up with reality and rang in the ears of the now-terrified band of thieves. Scourge was the first to move, drawing a pair of Schofield revolvers from his belt and diving into the dirt for cover. Two rats stood their ground; one unveiled a sawed-off shotgun from the darkness of his jacket, and the other fumbled with his gunbelt. Metal Sonic aimed for the one brandishing the shotgun.

Three.

The others scattered, leaving the two rats to fend for themselves against the robotic killer. Another shot echoed through the wastelands of the west as a second bullet tore through the veins and bone that made up the throat of the shotgun-wielding bandit. Crimson fluids splattered his partner, who had finally readied his revolver.

Four.

Metal Sonic had already chambered another bullet by the time the rat's pistol was cocked and aimed. Yet another taut retort sounded from the rifle, and a third body toppled into the sand. Blood sputtered from the gaping hole in the corpse's chest, and the arms and legs of the dead man twitched and spasmed.

Five.

Scourge fired off a trio of bullets in the sheriff's general direction. Two smashed through the dirt and dust, and one nearly made contact with Metal Sonic's skin. However, as the denizens of Westown knew, Metal Sonic was no ordinary hedgehog. The third bullet flew harmlessly past the dark blue robot's head as he sidestepped at light-speed. In reply, the police officer squeezed off another round, this one splintering through the green hedgehog's palm and tossing his gun to the ground.

Six.

The bandit-leader was howling in pain, and he had dropped his other gun in order to clutch his bleeding hand. The remaining armed men consisted of three; one hedgehog with a repeating-rifle, and two dogs with double-barreled shotguns. At this range, if they had each fired in unison, they could have easily obliterated the sheriff from hell. But this meant nothing to the fastest lawman in the west.

Metal Sonic placed the first shot into the dog on the left, snapping through his ribcage and vital organs. The hedgehog with the rifle panicked and dashed for cover, cowering behind the dog and peering out to see if it was safe. This made it easy for Metal Sonic to discharge another bullet through both the dog _and _the hedgehog. Through one man's shoulder and out another man's skull.

Seven.

Double-barrel still raised, blood gushing from his shoulder, the dog cursed and swore as he went to fire his rifle. Metal Sonic didn't flinch as the gun suddenly combusted backfired in a violent pop of amber and pink blood and fire. The desert-sand had a tendency to do that to guns, and Metal Sonic had calculated and known that this would occur. But that didn't make the bandit's shrieks of agony any less real as the flames licked away the remainder of his life. And the shrapnel didn't make matters any better.

There was a ghastly, hellish silence as the blood of the damned soaked into the earth, and Metal Sonic observed the carnage systematically as he reloaded his bolt-action. Scourge was the only one left alive, shivering and dumbfounded in his place in the dirt. The only noise to be heard was the mechanical clicking of bullets entering their chambers as the officer tended to his gun.

Click.

"You..." Scourge swallowed hard and choked back terror, "... you killed them."

Click.

"You freaking slaughtered them."

Click.

"What in the hell _are _you?"

Click.

Scourge stood from the dirt, clutching his bloody and grimy hand. The pistol in his sleeve shifted as he moved closer to the indigo menace. Waiting for the perfect shot.

Click.

"Answer me, goddamn you!" he screamed as the gun flashed in the sunlight, his fingers easily finding and pulling back on the trigger.

Click.

Metal Sonic lunged forward, twirling mid-flight in order to successfully avoid the bullet that discharged from the pistol. The concealed-firearm was predictable, the robot thought to himself as his talons locked around Scourge's gun-arm and constricted like a rattler around a mouse. The green hedgehog cried out as the sharp points of his claws dug through the leather sleeves and into the skin beneath.

There was a sickening snap as Metal Sonic suddenly twisted the thief's arm and tore backwards. The bone ejected from its socket and tore muscle with a fleshy ripping noise as Scourge roared in pain. His right arm hung limply at his side and the gun he held fell into the dust.

"I am the sheriff of Westown," the android answered grimly, his eyes gleaming in the golden light of the desert day. "And you, Scourge the hedgehog, are under arrest for murder, burglary, and grand theft."

...

In the distance, a series of gunshots rang out, and Shadow the hedgehog took Amy Rose by the hand and shook reluctantly. "Westown, huh?" he murmured quietly as a salvo of screams echoed from the same location, "Sounds like one hell of a place."

"Let me show you around town," the girl offered, happy to assist. "I'm sure you'll like it here."

There was the sound of tearing flesh and dislocating bones, and the trained-killer's ears twitched at the noise, however distant. "I'm sure I will," he said with a fanged smirk as he pulled a cigar from his pocket. The flame from his match flickered quickly and faded as it fed its dying breaths to the cigarette. Shadow's mouth smoldered and smoked as he followed the preacher's daughter. "I'm sure I will."


	4. Chapter 4

The mayor of Westown glared lazily through the blinds, his eyes scanning the desert landscape. Like a vulture watching for a weak animal to stumble. He breathed through his large nose, inhaling copious amounts of dust and dying cigar-smoke. Then he peeled his jacket open and retrieved a fresh cigarette from his pocket.

The flickering glow of amber flame illuminated the darkness for only a second, and one could see several things before the light was extinguished. Sweat-slicked mountains of flesh. Greasy, bushy ends of a mustache. Foggy, glossy lenses of blue-tinted goggles.

Doctor Ivo Robotnik took a long, relaxed drag of his cigar, blowing hazy plumes of almost black smoke out his mouth and into the dark room. He reached for his hat, pulling the brim down over his eyes. The warm, sour taste of the drug lulled his body into immobility, and the heat of the noontime sun forced his eyelids closed. Just as a snore escaped his lips, there was a knock at his door.

Damned mongrels.

"Enter," he spat, sitting erect in his chair now, turning around to greet whoever was there.

The door swung open to reveal two silhouettes, casting bleeding shadows across the floorboards in the glow of the high sun. By the gunmetal sheen that half-blinded him, Robotnik could make a good guess that one of them was the sheriff. The other shape, however, was more difficult to identify. Slouching, groaning, limp.

"Sir," Metal Sonic acknowledged politely as he dragged the body into the room, scraping the oak ground with the man's steel-toed boots.

Now, in the dimmer, more comfortable lighting provided by the window, Robotnik could see the green hedgehog in the sheriff's arms. He was wearing a black leather jacket, dark glasses, and two empty holsters.

"Who the hell is this?" the mayor demanded, waving a pudgy hand at the stranger.

"Scourge the hedgehog," the android answered, pausing to show Robotnik the criminal in his arms. "Under arrest for burglary, murd-..."

The large man stopped him mid-sentence. Just another wild dog to slaughter. "Fine, fine. Put him in the cell."

Metal Sonic did so, locking the cage as he threw the weak hedgehog to the floor.

"You bastards..." the bandit slurred, limping towards the bars. "You can't do this to me, I've got freakin' rights..."

"Shut up," Robotnik ordered from behind his desk, ignoring the one called Scourge and returning his attention to Metal Sonic. He bit the end of his cigar as he spoke, dropping bits of ash and paper onto the table below.

The officer saluted his master and stood at attention. "Sir. Would you like me to give you a summary of today's events as of this hour?"

Robotnik rolled his squinting eyes. Same question. Every damn day. "Yes, I would very much like that."

Metal Sonic nodded. "Nine o'clock; five minutes, thirty-two seconds. Citizen Kennedy's execution was successful. Patrol resumed regularly until twelve o'clock; twenty-two minutes, seventeen seconds. Encountered and confronted known criminal Scourge the hedgehog..."

The mayor leaned back into his seat and listened with closed eyes. How much he just wanted to drift off and fall asleep...

"New arrivals to Westown include one black and red hedgehog. Identity unknown. Lethality unknown. Reasons for arrival are unclear..."

Robotnik's eyes shot open. Black and red hedgehog. "Shadow?" he rumbled through his fading cig. Fragmented images of blood and gore and fire flashed through his mind. "_Shadow _is here?"

Metal Sonic paused. His scarlet eyes flickered with uncertainty. "I am unsure of who you are referring to..."

The fat doctor bolted from his chair and practically ran towards the robot. He placed his pair of meaty hands on the sheriff's shoulders. "Search your criminal records for a Shadow the hedgehog. Relations to arson and murder. Quickly, you useless machine, quickly!"

Metal Sonic stood perfectly still for three seconds as he looked through his database. Then his face glowed with understanding. "Shadow the hedgehog. Wanted for arson and murder. Bounty is five-hundred rings dead, one-thousand rings alive."

"The red and black hedgehog, you imbecile!" Robotnik sputtered. "And you let him into town?"

...

Scourge's ears were ringing. The pain in his arm was unbearable, but it had become numb over the past few minutes. The darkness was rimmed with red, and his head was pounding like his brain would burst from his skull.

"Apologies, sir."

"You fool! He can't be here; he might remember. God help us if that monster figures out who he is."

"I can assure you, sir, I will take care of the hedgehog."

"No, damn it, no! You were there. He'll recognize you for certain."

"H-..." Scourge tried to speak, tried to tell the duo of voices to shut the hell up, but his throat was too dry. He swallowed hard and made another attempt. "Hey, dumbasses."

Robotnik's wide neck snapped in the direction of the prisoner, and Metal Sonic's gaze followed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" the thief asked, leaning on the cell-bars for support.

"Nothing of your concern, trash," the mayor retorted sharply. "You won't be remembering any of this by tomorrow, anyway."

"Nine o'clock tomorrow, to be exact," Metal Sonic added precisely.

Scourge gulped down the lump in his throat when he realized what was in store for him. What in the hell kind of town was this? He'd only stolen, what, once or twice here and there. And the murders weren't even murders, really. They were more... _manslaughter_ than anything...

But then an idea struck the devious green hedgehog. "W-wait a minute! You said you need somebody... 'taken care of,' am I right?"

Robotnik paused. He gave Scourge a good, hard look as he pulled another cigar from his pocket. After lighting and biting the roll of paper, he replied warily, "Yes, yes we do."

Scourge grinned fiendishly. Hook. "_I _happen to be quite... adept, in disposing of unwanted persons, Mister...?"

"Robotnik," the man told him.

The hedgehog's smile widened. Line. "Robotnik. Listen, I could take care of this... Shadow, for you."

Robotnik snorted in disgust and rounded his desk. He flopped into the chair with a loud creaking noise. "And I suppose you'll be wanting some sort of... reward for your efforts?"

Sinker. "Just let me go," Scourge offered, extending his good arm through the door. With a flick of his wrist, the hidden knife he kept in his sleeve shot from its place and slid smoothly into his palm. The silver blade glinted in the smokey darkness as he twirled the dagger with his fingers. "I'll kill whoever you damn-well please... Mister Robotnik."

The mayor cast him a skeptical stare. Chewed deeper into his cigar. Ashes spewed and flitted like microscopic butterflies of orange and gray. The man's twin blue orbs of glass nodded after what felt like hours. "Deal. Your freedom for the death of Shadow the hedgehog."

Metal Sonic was quick to protest. It was _his _job to kill. "But, sir-!"

Robotnik shot him a cold glare that the android immediately understood.

The sheriff sighed mechanically and unlocked the cage. Unleashed a third demon into the plane of hell called Westown.

...

Scourge smiled wildly when he felt the sun on his skin again. Five minutes in that office had felt like five years. He glanced over at Metal Sonic, who had escorted him outside. The metal hedgehog glared back at him with crimson orbs full of contempt.

"You have twenty-four hours to complete your task."

Before Scourge could respond, Metal Sonic grabbed hold of his limp, dislocated arm. He shoved inward and pressed the bandit's shoulder down. There was a gross pop as the limb crackled back into place. The socket flared and burned like it was on fire, and Scourge could only scream in reply as the police officer tossed him out into the dirty roadway.

There, the robot thought with an invisible smile. All better.


	5. Chapter 5

"And that's old Doc Prower's office. He's a good man. My father says he's a little wet behind the ears, though."

"Uh-huh..." Shadow murmured against his cigar and tuned out the girl's boring words. The ashes and smoke sputtered as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

Amy waved a hand in front of her face in an attempt to redirect the gray fumes, but to no avail. She coughed a little and continued pointing to different landmarks and explaining their origins.

The cherry-red sun began to bleed into the violet darkness of evening, and the nighttime winds blew roughly through the roads of Westown. Clouds of wispy white cotton peppered the sky, and puffs of tanned earth tumbled through the air just above the ground. Stars peeked out from beneath their indigo blankets to watch the beautiful western sunset christening the infant night.

It wasn't long before the pair of hedgehogs reached the outskirts of town and arrived at the sad, blackened remains of a once-mighty structure. Amy stretched her fingers in its direction, gesturing to the desolate sight. Shards of glass glittered in the faint starlight, accented by ashes and charred refuse. "And this is Mister Robotnik's old mansion. Well, what's left of it, that is."

Shadow's scarlet eyes visibly lit up in the growing black. "Robotnik," he mumbled dreamily. "Who's Robotnik?"

Amy perked up at the sounds of interest at last emerging from the stranger's voice. "There's three of 'em, actually," she explained eagerly. "Let's see... there was Mister Gerald, his grandson Ivo, and his granddaughter Maria. They all used to live here together. This was an orphanage at one point, believe it or not."

Something glimmered in the black hedgehog's eyes. "An... orphanage?" he muttered in what sounded like disbelief.

The girl nodded, her pink bangs bobbing as she did so. "Yeah. They called it 'The Ark,' back when it was still standing. I think it was supposed to be kind of like how Noah's ark, from the Bible, saved all the innocent animals from the flood. The orphans were the animals..."

"And the whole goddamned world was the flood," the stranger finished crudely. He tossed away his ashen cigar, squashing it into the cool sand with the heel of his boot. His fingers pulled the brim of his hat down slightly past his forehead in an odd variation of a salute.

Amelia Rose could only nod in reply. Thinking of the long-dead Robotnik family always troubled her. It was far more troubling to think that the sole survivor should have become the most hated man in Westown. "Mister Gerald and his granddaughter perished in the fire a long time ago. There was a blaze a few years back; it burned the whole place to the ground."

"Arson?" Shadow questioned.

"No one's really sure," she answered. "But, there is a bounty out for a Shadow the hedgehog. Mayor Robotnik thinks it was him who did it."

The black and red hedgehog felt the color drain from his face. But he hid it well. "Sounds like a real bastard, if you don't mind me saying."

Amy nodded again. She didn't mind at all.

...

"Anoth-..." Sonic hiccuped quietly, "... another shot."

"Reckon you've had just about enough for the night, Sonic," Knuckles insisted gently, prying a whiskey-stained glass from the blue hedgehog's fingers.

"One more," he slurred, "for the road."

The rusting chandelier swung daintily from the rafters of the saloon, like a man's feet kicking softly against the wind of the gallows. Lit flames scattered about the room glowered amber from their wax prisons, casting the room in a hellish ambiance of orange tension. Like the world was simply waiting for the shattering noise of hailing gunfire.

Sonic the hedgehog, always the last to leave, was slumped lifelessly over the counter, begging for his thirteenth or fourteenth last whiskey. "C'mon," he whined quietly, barely louder than the squeaking hinges of the entrance doors. "Just one more..."

The solid clumping sound of approaching footsteps resounded through the room, and the near-silent squealing of steel spurs clinked ever so gently against the hardwood floor.

Knuckles glanced up from his sullied and sullen patron, finding a dark green hedgehog standing in the center of the bar. His tinted spectacles concealed the fire in his gaze as he locked eyes with the barkeep.

"Hold on a second," the echidna told Sonic in hushed tones, slightly ashamed of his drunken friend. He stepped around the hedgehog's collapsed form and cleared a spot beside him so the new customer could sit. "Howdy. What's your poison?"

Scourge the hedgehog grinned, sporting gleaming yellow-white fangs. "I'll take a glass of your finest _merlot_," he said, accenting the drink's name with mock sophistication.

The red echidna sniggered. "Real freakin' funny. Buy somethin' real or get the hell out. I ain't got time for jokers."

The green demon's smile widened, the lenses of his glasses flickering the red-gold light. His grip on his recently-recovered Schofields tightened as he began to lift them from their holsters. The darkness of his jacket hid his hands from the keen eyesight of the bartender.

"Jokers?" Scourge snickered. "I got one for ya', barkeep."

...

The taut retort of a .45 Schofield blared in Shadow's ears. His neck instinctively twitched towards the noise as he struggled to determine its source. "The hell was that?" he muttered, though he was already pinpointing its origin.

"Gunfire," Amy gasped.

Shadow drew his revolver from the depths of his trench coat, raising it high as he marched towards the disturbance. Without his knowledge, the preacher's daughter followed him closely.

...

Searing, white-hot agony flashed through Knuckles' right shoulder as the lead gouged through bone and oozed crimson blood. He choked loudly and nearly vomited in sheer shock as the pain began to throb down to his arm and chest. The shotgun beneath the counter that was once inches from his grasp now seemed to be miles away.

"What'ya call a guy who's red..."

A second bullet smashed through the already-wounded echidna, destroying his sternum and barely missing his rapidly beating heart. Bits of chalk-white bone struggled to surface through the bloody mess of his bubbling, scarlet-stained shirt.

Scourge took his time, savoring each sputtering gasp Knuckles emitted as he wandered towards his prey.

"... got three freakin' holes in him..."

An impossibly agonizing third shot rang out and tore through Knuckles' ribcage, and gouts of gutshot blood and gore leaked from his stomach. The dying barkeep began to drown in his own blood as he prayed to the God he had never before believed in for mercy.

"... and is staring down the business end of two pistols?"

There was no reply as Scourge chambered the bullet that would no doubt end the suffering man. So the evil hedgehog answered his own riddle with a sadistic smile that rivaled that of Satan's. "Screwed is what ya' call him," he chuckled, eyes wide and bloodshot with malevolent pleasure.


	6. Chapter 6

His hands were like lightning and just as fast as they brashly intercepted the killing shot, shoving the barrel of the gun skyward and discharging the round into the ceiling. Splinters of falling wood and smoldering gunsmoke clouded the air as Sonic stared into the face of death for the second time that day. His worn, trademark grin glared at Scourge's growing scowl through the black of gunpowder.

"You _never _shoot the bartender, friend," Sonic informed him, stumbling over his words but making his message clear as the day he had once fought to defend. He felt lazily for his holster, steadily drawing and aiming his Mauser from his jacket.

"See," he hiccuped, "he's the one with the booze. And I..."

The blue hedgehog exhaled alcohol-tinged breath into Scourge's face, burning his eyes. He poked the bandit's chest with the barrel of his machine-pistol as he spoke. "I freakin' _love _booze, ya' see. So, that means that I _love _the bartender. So, in case you don't get it..."

Sonic suddenly moved, throwing his foot forward and directly into the opposing hedgehog's stomach. Scourge coughed blood and tumbled backwards, knocking over chairs as he went, eventually landing with a crash on the floor beneath him. One of his precious revolvers broke free of his grasp, skidding into the darkness as Sonic stared down the sights of his pistol.

"Ya' never... shoot... the bartender!" Sonic shouted dramatically as he squeezed the trigger in a drunken rage. Several amber explosions exploded in the night, and a stream of five bullets singed the air and hurtled towards Scourge.

The green hedgehog rolled to the left, ducking beneath a table and regaining his footing. Sonic's line of fire immediately shifted, moving wherever Scourge hid. The bandit flipped the table he had been cowering beneath, setting it on its end and using it as a makeshift shield against the onslaught of gunfire. The cracking and shattering noise of lead smashing against oak deafened the two hedgehogs, neither of which giving a damn about the sounds of hellfire they had each grown so accustomed to.

Click.

Sonic blinked through the haze of his alcoholic high.

Clickclick.

He pressed the trigger of his gun uselessly as the colors and sensations of gunsmoke and beer and blood blended together in hellish harmony. Empty?

Clickclickclickclickclickclick.

"Well, shit," he announced as Scourge barreled from cover, Schofield cocked and loaded.

Red-gray flame blazed from the darkness of the barrel as two shots rang out, and two bullets flew from the abyss, cutting lines of clarity through the smoke. Sonic danced and swayed in a drunken stupor, miraculously dodging each shot with what appeared to be grace. He spun without thinking, moving and thinking in glorious synchronization with his inner alcoholic, closing the distance and smacking the grip of his gun across the bandit's mouth. Blood and teeth spewed from his maw and clattered and spattered onto the floor below.

Scourge growled viciously, recovering quickly and hurling himself at the Blue Blur. Their bodies collided and Scourge felt his hand close around Sonic's throat. Immediately, his smile from hell returned, and he shoved the blue hedgehog into the counter behind him.

Sonic groaned and cursed under his breath as his spine connected with the edge of the countertop. "Goddamn..." he hissed through clenched teeth.

Scourge didn't hesitate, forcing his Schofield into the helpless hedgehog's face and eagerly yanking back the hammer with his thumb. "I was lookin' for a Shadow the hedgehog, you know," he admitted, smiling all the while. "You and your booze-buddy were just a warm-up. He'll come running when he hears all the hell we've been raising; if he's a real gunslinger, that is."

The deposed sheriff of Westown stared groggily into the all-too familiar face of death once again. Unfazed. "Who the hell is Shadow?"

The green hedgehog snarled in frustration. "Knowledge don't mean shit to the damned, _amigo_," he declared, pushing the gun deep into Sonic's skin, his finger a hair's breadth from the trigger. "And you, well you are one damned motherfu-!"

_Chachunk._

Knuckles was pulling back the hammer of his twelve-gauge, double-barreled Remington just as Scourge spotted him struggling behind the counter. The killer's eyes enlarged to the size of eggs just as the bleeding bartender touched the trigger.

"Sonuvabitch!"

Sonic instinctively threw himself to the floor when he heard the sound of shells being chambered, and Knuckles let out a final, shaky gasp as he heard the bullets click into place. His violet eyes puffed with tears of agony, and his gory body shuddered as he spoke. "No guns, asshole."

There was a piercing crack as Knuckles' finger located and squeezed back both triggers, sending two beams of orange and red inferno directly into Scourge's throat. The crunching sound of bone disintegrating into ash and collapsing into itself resounded through the room as the hedgehog's spine was severed at the neck. Blood squirted from the place where there should have been a head as Scourge's skull flew end-over-end and away from the bar, landing with a wet smack on the gore-stained floor. For a moment, the demon's headless body stood on its own, as though the gunslinger was still able and willing to fight.

But gravity, a cruel mistress, allowed the assassin's corpse to stand no more. The cadaver fell to its knees first, then it plummeted backwards with a sickening thud, its bones tilted at unnatural angles.

Scourge the hedgehog was no more.

...

There were many sounds ringing through Knuckles the echidna's ears as he slumped into the beam behind him, sliding down into the pool of blood that had accumulated at his feet. His pants soaked the dark red fluids into the material, warming his already tired legs, making his will to go on evermore weak. Darkness pried at the corners of his eyes, seeping into his vision and dulling the pain.

_"You blew his freakin' head off!"_

The drunken, half-assed laughter of his favorite customer and best friend echoed somewhere far away.

The clatter of the double-doors to his bar slamming open. Footsteps. A pair of footsteps. Two new customers.

_"Christ alive."_

Deep. Calm. Dark. The customer from this morning, perhaps? He was too tired to tell. There was a glimmer of light in the distance...

_"Oh my God."_

Queasy. Frightened. Girlish. It couldn't be the preacher's daughter. The girl would never set foot into his establishment, especially not now, of all times. But he swore he could hear her drawing a cross over her chest, mumbling the names of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The light that was once so far off seemed closer now; he could nearly reach out and grasp it in his hands...

...

Several things registered in Shadow's mind as he shoved open the doors to the saloon and entered the aftermath. One was the wounded, nearly-dead bartender wallowing behind the counter, gurgling mindlessly as he fell deeper into eternal slumber. The second was the laughing, drunk off-his-ass hedgehog in the corner of the room, leaning and coughing wildly on top of a toppled barstool. The guy from earlier; the same bastard that had stolen his drink?

The third was the recently-detached head of one Scourge the hedgehog. There were twin pools of red-hot blood and piss-gold mucus pooling about his face, and his eyes, locked open for an eternity of what could be no less than damnation, soaked disgustingly in the stewing liquids, growing bloodshot and hazy as the remnants of life fled from the fading irises.

The preacher's daughter hurriedly scratched a cross over her breast, and the naming of the Holy Trinity alerted Shadow to her presence. He cast her a concerned glance.

She looked fit to vomit.

"You alright?" the ultimate life form asked with a sideways look.

"Y-..." she stuttered, her face turning color, "y-y... no... I mean, yeah, I mean..."

Amy Rose quickly caught herself as bile rushed up her throat. The result was a burning, gross burping noise that sickened her even more. She squeaked out a pathetic 'excuse me' as she stumbled out the doors and promptly lost her lunch.


	7. Chapter 7

"Turn and spit."

Knuckles choked loudly and gagged on thick, lukewarm blood. His lips stained as red as his fur. Eyes dimmer than a crow's on a rainy evening. The doctor loomed above him, silhouetted by the amber glow of a lone lamp, his shadowy figure flickering in the weak firelight. His ears and twin-tails were his only discernible features, and the scarlet-stained white coat painted a portrait of some sort of bloody angel.

"You have to spit."

The echidna sputtered weakly in reply. The angel's sea-blue eyes narrowed.

"You have to spit or else you are going to die. _Spit_."

Knuckles vomited red into the basin beside him.

Miles Prower sighed to himself in half-exhaustion and half-relief as he wiped the sweat from his brow. The scalpel was hot to the touch and wet with his perspiration when he placed it down upon the operating table. It had been a hot, sticky desert night already, and the dying man sprawled across the tabletop managed to make the prickling tension even worse.

Doc Tails sighed again and patted his forehead dry with a rag.

"Is he gonna' make it?" the question came from Sonic, shattering the unbearable silence. His hands were tucked under his armpits, and there was a look of worry scrawled in the wrinkles of his forehead.

Tails turned to his old friend the ex-sheriff. He hadn't seen the Blue Blur this sober in years. "Hard to say," he said after a while, rubbing the corners of his mouth with the same rag, as they had also begun to perspire. "He's lost a lot of blood."

The blue hedgehog swore under his breath and unhooked the flask from his belt. He took a shaky breath and swallowed warm whiskey. It tasted like shit. He drank more anyway.

Then he turned to the stranger, who had stayed absolutely quiet and nearly invisible upon entering the doctor's office. Shadow followed Sonic's gaze, and the two locked eyes for a split-second.

Sonic beheld the silver flask and shook its contents about lazily. _Swish-splash. _"Want a swig?"

The ultimate life form didn't answer for a while. But he eventually responded with a polite nod as he snatched the booze away and gulped some down.

A mild buzz shrilled through his skull as he handed the drink back. "So what the hell happened in that bar?" he finally asked.

Sonic scowled from behind the lip of the flask. "Some bastard," he paused and drank some whiskey, "some bastard barged in with a pair of pistols. He was looking for a 'Shadow the hedgehog.' He found Knuckles instead."

Shadow winced. "I'm sorry."

"You ain't the one that shot him," the has-been hero argued, prodding the black hedgehog's chest. "Nothing to be sorry about."

And Shadow said nothing in reply.

There was a sudden clatter as the office doors flew open behind them, and the three men turned to the noise. Amy Rose stood in the doorway, her face pallor and her eyes the sickly color of limes. She didn't say anything as she hobbled inside and took a seat near the door.

Shadow took a step towards her, considering helping her into the chair but reacting too late. "Are you feeling better?"

Amy nodded and swallowed hard. She peeled the white collar off of her neck and wiped her forehead of cold sweat. "Yeah," she rasped. "Is he... is he going to be alright?"

Tails shrugged halfheartedly.

"Should we...?" Amelia Rose faltered, hesitant. "May we pray?"

The doctor looked only mildly surprised. Many asked to pray when a loved one was about to pass on. But he hadn't thought that the preacher's daughter would feel so sympathetic for a bartender... He nodded and returned to his work. Must be all that love thy neighbor stuff, he decided as he reequipped his scalpel.

The girl smiled softly and reached her hand out for Sonic to take. The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes and removed his hat. She offered her hand to Shadow. He reluctantly accepted and bowed his head.

"Please, God. We pray that you will help our dear friend, Knuckles, in his time of need. Please do not let him be taken so soon, Lord. May your will be done, amen."

Sonic huffed as soon as she finished the short prayer. "A-freakin'-men."

Shadow went back to the darkness of the corner, silently returning to the black.

Amy glanced at Knuckles' bloody almost-corpse and wiped more cold sweat off her brow.

"Now that's no way to end a prayer, sheriff," a deep, gentle voice retorted from the starlit outdoors. The hedgehog that followed was a tall, lean man with dark, maroon fur. He wore a gray suit and a buttermilk-colored tie. Eyes light and wise gleamed in the dim room as he entered, jade and pale like some kind of exotic, plain-tasting fruit. "I thought I'd have taught you better."

Sonic's back suddenly stiffened at the familiar voice. He held back a scowl and removed his hat once more. "Reverend."

Amy jumped a little when she saw her father in the doorway. Her face reddened and she pulled at the collar of the clothes she had taken from him. "F-Father!"

The preacher of Westown sniffed out the stranger like a starving man in search of food. His eyes met scarlet as Shadow tipped his hat to him. Father Rose extended his pristine, gloved hand. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure..." he trailed-off, allowing the black hedgehog to finish his sentence.

But the ultimate life form refused. "No, you haven't," he retorted sharply as they shook hands.

The reverend grinned, unfazed. "Of course. I'm Father Rose."

His smile quickly dissolved as he turned to the dying echidna in the center of the room. "I do wish we were meeting under... better circumstances."

"Sounds like the start of a bad freakin' joke," Sonic suddenly hiccuped, his flask open and quickly running dry. "A preacher, a stranger, and a drunk-ass ex-sheriff..."

He snickered, but did not stop. "They walk into a bar, and the bartender says... 'Oh, shit. I'm dying,' and then..."

His expression suddenly turned somber when he remembered that there was no punchline. He stared at his beer with dumbfounded confusion. "Christ, that's not funny," he mumbled stupidly.

"Indeed not," the pastor agreed, though whether he was speaking of the foul language or the joke itself was unclear. He turned to Tails, who was so engrossed in his duties he did not see the reverend enter.

"Tails," he pressed carefully, walking to his side. "Perhaps there's something I can do to help."

Without glancing up, the two-tailed fox replied, "You can get out of my light, sir."

Smile never-fading, the reverend stepped aside. He turned back to the trio of hedgehogs. "Not that I have any doubt in you, Amelia, but have you all tried praying?"

Amy nodded, sheepishly tugging at the hem of the stolen shirt, her face blistering scarlet with embarrassment. "Y-yes, father..."

The preacher walked to his daughter's side and gently urged her to her feet. "Well," he said, eyes locked with Shadow's for some damned reason. "As the wise apostle Mark once said, 'Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.'" He held a hand out for the dark hedgehog to take. "Would you kindly join us in prayer once more, stranger?"

There was a sickening _squelch _noise as Tails dug another piece out of Knuckles' warm body. A gooey _plop_ followed suit. The doctor sort of wished the whole lot of spectators would either shut up or get out, but he was far too polite to ever say such things. Instead he said, "This isn't really the place for a bloody service, _padre_. I'd really prefer silence..."

"Dear God in heaven."

Doc Prower rolled his eyes and held back a sigh.

"We pray tonight that your will be done as you see fit. Our friend, Knuckles, is need of your holy hand tonight, Lord. May he not be taken so soon. We thank you for your many blessings, and for our own safety, but please hear our humble request tonight, God. In your name we pray, amen."

Tails' crystalline, pale blue eyes glimmered with shock as he suddenly felt something solid and metallic beneath the mass of torn and tattered flesh. His fingers squished and waded through gore as he removed a trio of black, bloodsoaked balls of lead.

"H-..." he stammered in amazement, unsure of how to react. "H-hey! I found the bullets! I found 'em! Knuckles, old friend, hang in there. Someone upstairs is lookin' out for you."

Sonic turned away as the pastor offered an almost smug grin. "Ask, and thou shall receive," he proclaimed, straightening his tie.

"Shuddup," the blue hedgehog replied sorely, doing his damnedest to hide the joy in his voice as he stifled his excitement with another drink. Still tasted like shit.


	8. Chapter 8

"The game has changed."

Metal Sonic's ears clicked quietly in the darkness, the twin-whorls of scarlet energy burning hellishly bright in the smoldering, midnight air. His gaze was locked solely upon the hedgehogs across the street, the only thing standing between the android and them a grimy window and dust. The points of his talons dug into the oak frame of Robotnik's window as the mayor spoke from behind him.

"The scum was not what he promised he was."

The pause that ensued was tense and toxic. A searing, tobacco-infused puff of air escaped the fat human's lips and stained his greasy mustache. Those lips curled into a scowl.

"Pity."

"Allow me to dispose of him, sir," the robot blurted with death between his words. "It is my programming to-!"

There was a flesh-on-steel _smack_ as Metal Sonic's head was tossed forward, courtesy of the solid backhand of one Ivo Robotnik. The fiendish mayor took another puff of his cigar as the robot's mechanical brain rattled against the pane of glass. A garish white scar, small but definitely noticable, appeared on the indigo skin, and the window was also left with a large crack in its surface.

"_I _will determine what is your programming."

Metal Sonic felt the fresh, ghostly pale scratch on his forehead gingerly, eventually letting it be and clenching up his fist in useless frustration. "Affirmative," he replied almost sourly.

Robotnik wandered away from the window, his eyes lazily trailing the hedgehogs that left the doctor's office. One was the preacher, the other his daughter, the other the town-drunk. The last was Shadow.

The fat man forced himself to refrain from shuddering with fear as he sat down behind his desk and peeled open the wrinkled folder before him. Choking back ancient memories of smoke, death, and undeniable betrayal of an inhuman nature, he pulled the documents closer to his face. The scarlet eyes of the past pried at his gaze even as he read the inky writing before him.

**TOP SECRET- EYES ONLY**

The bloody stamp blared crimson words through the haze of paranoia. Robotnik opened the file and plucked the bronze-colored telecommunication device from his desk drawer. A highly advanced piece of technology given to him on the day of the orphanage arson-incident. He pressed the button and dialed the only number the phone was capable of calling. GUN HQ.

He breathed unsteady, frightened breaths as the tone sounded in his eardrums.

"This had better be important," the dark, brooding voice on the other end finally answered. "The device you hold in your palm is specifically designed for emergency situations only."

"It is an emergency," the mustached-man replied nervously. "Shadow the hedgehog is alive."

There was a pause.

"Impossible," the deep voice said after a long while. "All residents of the Ark were killed in the controlled arson attack years ago..."

Robotnik snapped forward in his seat and hissed into the mouthpiece. "But he's _not dead_."

Another pause ensued.

"What have you done to stop him, then?" the GUN Commander asked, his bored monotone shifting to intrigued.

"Everything I can do without reminding him of that day." The large man glanced at the papers in his hand. "I need an assassin. And I need them now."

"GUN has no assassins, Mister Robotnik. We are a government organization."

"Don't you _dare _bullshit me, you pretentious bastard! I have in my possession enough evidence to draw and quarter you and your entire goddamned organization!"

"Then perhaps you do not require our assistance, Mister Robotnik. We can simply let your alleged 'evidence' die with your fair town."

"Wait... no, no. Please, just... I have a name. I have a name in the files you gave me." Robotnik fumbled about with the yellowed papers until he found the one slathered in red-printed warnings. "Rouge the bat, I need you to send me Rouge the bat."

Silence overtook the office once more.

"Very well. Rouge the bat can arrive by train tomorrow morning. You will, of course, be required to pay the expenses of her transport and services."

"Of course, of course! God bless you, sir."

There was a rustle on the opposite end of the phone, and static followed the uncomfortable growl of the Commander as he spoke, "I think we can both agree that God stopped blessing us long ago, Ivo."

Then the phone went dead.

* * *

"I insist that you stay with us this evening, stranger," Father Rose pleaded kindly, his lime-green irises glinting with warmth in the dark as he stared at Shadow. "Westown, unfortunately, offers no bedding for visitors and passerby such as yourself. But I can promise you a warm bed and roof over your head if you stay with us."

The black and red hedgehog's eyes refused to meet the preacher's. "Thank you kindly, but I'm afraid I must decline."

"What the hell for?" Sonic interjected, leaning against the wall beneath the building's overhanging roof. He stared for a moment at his flask of poison, reconsidered, then looked defiantly at the strange hedgehog. "The Father's a good man. He'll take damned good care of you."

"It is not a question of hospitality," Shadow shot back suddenly, a spark of fire in his monotone. "I just can't ask you to do that. I plan on catching a train out of town first thing tomorrow."

Amy Rose's face lit up in confusion. "Well then, you still need a place to stay."

He looked at the girl for a long moment, silently admiring the way her pale skin glowed in the soft touch of moon and starlight. His heart wrenched about in his chest as he pulled his eyes away from her form. "I'm afraid I'd only cause trouble for you kind folk," he eventually said.

"I assure you, son," the Father said with a heartwarming smile, "you'd be no trouble at all."

Shadow resisted the urge to tell the man that that was a damned lie. "Really. I... and I wouldn't even be earning my stay," he argued. "I wouldn't feel right staying without paying."

"Shoot, you can just help us tend the ranch!" Amy suggested happily. Then her cheeks flushed with strawberry color as she corrected herself. "I-I mean, you could help us tend the ranch. If that makes it better."

Father Rose chuckled, "Or perhaps you could simply teach my Amelia how to speak like a proper lady."

"Father..." the girl whined childishly, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

Shadow thought for a good while, glancing curiously at the rose-colored girl as he pondered. "I..." he started, stopped, and finally decided, "I suppose I could use a bed tonight."

"Fantastic!" the Father beamed. He tipped his hat to Sonic, who was already stumbling down the road and away, then waved for Shadow to follow. "Of course, It'd be a pleasure to know your name before we get you home, stranger. You wouldn't prefer us to call you 'stranger' all the time, now would you?"

Shadow the hedgehog smirked in reply and outstretched his gun-hand to the reverend, the same hand that had killed offered to the hand that held the shepherd's staff. "I suppose I wouldn't. I'm John."


	9. Chapter 9

"Rouge. Command to Rouge."

The sound of flesh-on-flesh contact drowned out the shrill crackle of device on the nightstand. Tongue slid sensually along tongue as the telecommunication machine spoke once more to deaf ears.

"Rouge, come in."

The greasy, half-naked man beneath her broke the kiss and stared into her seafoam gaze with confusion in his drunken eyes. "What…" he rumbled as he gently shoved her away, his hands fumbling blindly in the black of night, "... what the hell is that?"

"Hush, darlin'," Rouge the bat comforted sweetly, her cold, glowing irises scanning the length of his body. "It's nothing."

Before he could retort, she had already fused her lips with his once more. The phone shrilled a third time.

"Rouge the bat, come in."

"What the hell is that thing?" the man asked again, his gray eyes alight with half-frustration, half-curiosity. He pushed the beautiful woman aside and sat upright on the bedsheets.

"Oh, honey," Rouge beckoned, her arms slithering around his neck and chest. Painted fingertips glided over sweat and skin. "You worry too much. Come back to bed, Mason. _Pllleeasse_."

"Get the hell offa' me," the man named Mason growled sternly, shouldering-off her advances. He rose to his feet and scratched his stomach, double-checking with the palm of his hand that his revolver was still tucked into the waistband of his jeans.

His thumb curled around the fine wooden handle, and his index finger found the cool steel of the trigger as he squinted at the small, bedside table. "I can't friggin' see," he grumbled through his thick, slimy beard.

The heavyset, hairy hedgehog turned the valve on the small gas-powered lamp beside him until a steady, amber flame flickered to life and lit the dim bedroom. Rouge pretended to be blinded by the sudden light as she reached into her boot and withdrew something small and silver from the darkness.

Mason stared dumbly at the nightstand now, baffled by the contraption he saw. It was a small, metallic thing that sat beside his lover's clothes, beeping occasionally in quiet, technical tones. He scratched his chin in confusion, still wondering what the hell the thing was even as he read the blocky, white letters printed into the face.

**GUN**

"GUN…?" he pondered aloud. Suddenly, his toes curled inside of his boots and his stomach fell into his feet. Coldsweat glistened on his brow as he began to panic. "W-wait! You're a friggin' spy! You're a-!"

His cries were cut abruptly short as the garrote wrapped around his throat and dug into his flesh. The man struggled to scream but failed when the silvery length of wire sliced into his skin and began to strangle him into breathlessness.

Rouge yanked backwards and pulled the large man into the dark, away from the warm, orange light and into cold death. He choked loudly and clawed wildly behind him, occasionally grazing the bat's slender arms but never fully grasping his killer. With a sharp gasp, he finally snatched at his pistol.

There was a click as the hammer snapped back and chambered a bullet.

Then there was a bang as Rouge's nimble fingers reached around his stomach and squeezed the trigger.

Still trapped in the confines of his pants, the round exploded downward and seared through tender flesh with a gross squashing sound. Blood spewed from within the denim and flooded the crotch of his clothes.

"_Sonuvabitch_!" he screamed in agony, jerking away and evading the choke-wire. He gasped for breath as he stumbled towards the nightstand once more, relishing in the gas-powered flame of the lamp before him. "You friggin' bitch! You blew my friggin' nuts off! Jesus Christ!"

Mason felt her hand on the back of his head but could do nothing as she threw his skull through the glass of the lamp. Fire scorched his nose and eyes and lips as the light shattered and smashed to pieces. Splinters of glass stabbed into skin. Blood dribbled like rain down his chin as he let out a weak cry and tumbled to the floor.

"Mason Malkovich," Rouge stated the hedgehog's name calmly, even examining her fingers to see if she had broken a nail. She had not. "Crime lord extraordinaire. Drug-dealing, extortion, bribing officials…"

The trained assassin raised a foot and jabbed the heel of her boot into his spine, tossing his limp and wounded body to the floor. His chin scraped against the hardwood.

"And the list goes on, doesn't it, sweetheart?" she giggled softly. She pulled the wire taut in her hands until she could see the fine, white line against the dying light of the lamp. Fragments of fallen glass reflected her image along the ground like kaleidoscopic mirror. Long, tan legs, beautiful, ivory-colored ears and hair, and gorgeous, sea-blue, sometimes sea-green eyes.

The perfect killer.

"Your one weakness," Rouge declared, tugging on the wire once more, "women. You really thought you were gonna' get lucky tonight, didn't you?"

"Rouge, come in," the phone said in the background. White noise.

"Baby," the dying man whimpered. He flopped over onto his back and struggled to sit up. His eyes were sparkling with bits of glass and flecks of blood, his eyelids swollen shut. Pink and crystal clouded his vision. "We can talk about this. Y-you can work for me, or-or somethin'…"

"As much as I'd love being, well…" Rouge lunged suddenly, quickly and viciously tying the garrote around his neck. "… your personal _slut_, I'm afraid you just couldn't handle me."

She puckered her lips and grinned, her eyes flickering with lustful, evil pleasure. "So sorry, hon. It's nothing personal."

The man sputtered gravely, saliva dripping down his bloody face. He needed to breathe. He absolutely needed oxygen. Or else he would die.

But Mason couldn't breathe after Rouge forced her tongue into his mouth and locked him into one final kiss. He felt the life fade rapidly as she sucked playfully at his lip until he was cold and dead. Blood trickled from his mouth and stained her lips scarlet.

She backed away from the criminal's corpse and licked her own lips clean.

"Rouge."

The bat stood up and backed away from the lifeless body. She scooped up the phone and answered sharply. "This had better be damned important. You're interrupting me in the middle of some passionate lovemaking, Commander."

"I'm sure I am," the deep voice of the Commander replied sarcastically. "I assume that Malkovich…?"

"Is dead," she finished, glancing at her handiwork with a hint of pride.

"Excellent." Static growled over the line for a moment. "I'm afraid your work isn't done just yet, however."

"Oh?" she asked with a smirk. Rouge held the device to her ear as she strolled over Mason's body and retrieved the bottle of wine he had brought for their evening together. She poured a glass of blood-red alcohol and held it to her lips.

"There's a train scheduled to depart from the city at twelve o'clock, midnight tonight. I need you to be on that train," the phone commanded. "It's headed for a place called Westown. A man named Ivo Robotnik will cover for any expenses you may have. Once you arrive, you will be given a…"

"Cut to the chase, Commander," Rouge almost snapped, annoyed with the ceaseless, chattering details. She sipped the crimson drink in her hand and pulled away, her lips stained red for the second time that night. She licked them clean and stared out the window and into the starry evening sky. "Who needs to die?"

…

"I must say, you seem to have outdone yourself, Amelia."

The preacher beamed proudly at his daughter as he pushed another forkful of food into his mouth. Amy smiled back.

"Thank you, father." She glanced at Shadow, who was too preoccupied with half of a baked potato to notice the ongoing exchange. "Do you like it, John?"

The dark and mysterious stranger from parts unknown had to remind himself not to chew with his mouth open as he faced the pretty girl across the dinner table. He swallowed the steaming, buttery foodstuff down with a gulp as he thought about what to say. Aside from confrontations, gunfights, and various obscenities, Shadow the hedgehog was not very well versed in dinner-table manners or casual conversation.

He drank half of his glass of water and restrained himself from belching as he covered his mouth with his fist. "It's fantastic," he admitted. "You'd make a dam-…"

Shadow quickly caught himself and coughed suddenly and conveniently as he corrected his mistake. "Pardon. You'd make a _darned _good cook."

Amy grinned, seeming not to notice or simply not caring. "Thank you. I've always seen myself as more of a farm-girl, though. The ranch is definitely where I belong."

Father Rose almost snorted, but preachers aren't generally known for their ability to snort, and so it came out as more of a kindly chuckle. "The ranch is no place for a woman, Amelia."

Amelia Rose was, however, well-known for ability to snort, and so she did so as she retorted, "I've been workin' the ranch since I was tall enough to handle a pitchfork. And I believe-!"

"Workin_g_," her father interrupted with a smirk, winking at Shadow. "Speak proper, dear."

Amy's face turned a vicious rose-red, and she crossed her arms across her chest in frustration. "I been working the ranch…"

"I_'ve _been working the ranch," the Father corrected again.

Flustered, she sat upright in her seat and stabbed her fork into a chunk of meat. "It don't matter how I-!"

"It _doesn't _matter how I," Shadow interjected quietly from his end of the table.

The Roses stared at the stranger with separate emotions; one with eyes full of laughter and good humor, one with a gaze of righteous anger and disbelief. The pastor concealed his mouth as he tried and failed to contain a chuckle, and his daughter fumed as smoke rolled from her ears.

"Oh," she sputtered angrily, "you hush up!"

Shadow's stoic face broke momentarily into a genuinely happy smile as her emerald eyes burrowed into his own crimson ones. He made sure to aim his rare and small grin at the pink hedgehog before returning his gaze to his plate. He tried not to think about how cute she looked when she was mad as he shoved another bite into his mouth.


	10. Chapter 10

"I'm faster than that."

Sonic the hedgehog grumbled sourly to himself, his muddled, borderline lifeless green eyes staring numbly off into space. His hands worked automatically and without his consent as he uncorked a bottle of alcohol and began to help himself to a warm whiskey. He was sure that Knuckles wouldn't mind if he borrowed a drink. Or two. Or more.

The greasy, blue hedgehog slumped half-over, half-around the bloodstained bar until his fumbling fingers found a shot glass. Sweet, gold-brown painkiller bubbled out of the bottle's mouth and cascaded into the cup. He tried his best to smell the drink in his hand, but the coppery stench of blood overwhelmed his senses.

He brought the drink to his lips. Hesitated.

"I'm…" he caught himself speaking to the glass, the amber liquid shivering as his fingers began to tremble. Ripples of nervous energy traveled in waves along the shimmering, orange surface. "I'm faster than… that."

His sober voice sent an icy tremor down his spine; he hadn't heard it in so long, he had forgotten it belonged to him.

Sonic lowered the shot and looked blankly down into the poison. A hazy, beer-colored reflection of a once-noble, heroic, azure hedgehog looked back. A caricature. A parody. A joke.

"I'm _fast_, goddamn it!"

Glass shattered and drink spattered when the ex-sheriff hurled the good-tasting venom against the far wall. There was the smashing noise as the cup exploded, the splash as the alcohol spilled, and the silence of a man beginning to go through withdrawal.

The defender of Westown once-upon-a-time could not stop the hot, thick tears that oozed from his eyes like pus from a wound as he toppled over and onto his knees. His fists unfurled into white-knuckled claws as he swiped madly at his face, contorted and warped with regret and despair.

A hoarse sob racked his body as his hands fell blindly down across his aching chest and heaving stomach, coming to rest upon the white-hot flask of liquor on his belt. He cried out suddenly, shocked and terrified by the thing. Unclasping the silver from its holster, he tossed it away as though it were lit aflame.

Metal clanged against hardwood, and each steely clatter sent a stab of agonizing memory pounding through the Blue Blur's skull. Each memory was different; each possessing its own unique, hellish color, sound, and feeling. It all blended and melted and boiled together in a disgusting stew of pain.

You could've saved Knuckles if you were sober.

You would've been sober if you were still sheriff.

You'd still be sheriff if you'd kept your mouth shut.

…

"Here's where you'll be restin' your head," Amy said as she pushed open the creaking, ancient slab of oak that served as a door. "It's sort of a storage room and guest bedroom. We don't get many visitors this far out, as you might've guessed..."

The girl rubbed the back of her head and offered an embarrassed smile. The Rose family lived on the outskirts of Westown, secluded within miles of desert and sand. Rarely did they ever receive someone who accepted their hospitality, and rarer-still was it that anyone ever discovered just where on God's green earth they lived.

Shadow nodded gratefully as he entered the cluttered room. He removed his hat and placed it atop a dusty barrel that stood beside the small bed. "Please," he said, his eyes scanning the dark bedroom as he spoke, never focusing on the girl behind him, "let your father know how much I appreciate the hospitality."

"I promise," she told him, "it ain't no trouble at all."

"_Isn't _any trouble," the dark hedgehog corrected with a wry smile. He went to take off his overcoat.

"Oh, hold on." Shadow flinched when he suddenly felt the female's hands on his body, her voice sounding far away as she talked. Her fingers brushed his skin as she peeled the jacket off of him. "Let me get that for you, John."

Amelia didn't notice the blood that rushed into his cheeks, sporting a fierce orange color, and instead stared with starry-eyed wonder when she spotted the scarred shoulders and arms that the man's coat had been concealing from sight. The crimson lines riddled his flesh like a sickness; a child's game of tic-tac-toe written on his body in deep, red crayon.

"Oh," the girl gasped. She mentally clawed for more words, something else to say, but found nothing. "Oh, God."

Shadow was still recoiling from the fact that he had just been touched by somebody who hadn't tried to kill him. He physically could not remember when this had happened last. The touch of kindness was a concept lost to the blurry void of his forgotten past.

"I-..." he spoke dumbly, thoughtlessly. What was he supposed to say? Explain the ancient wounds? Apologize? What for, though? For startling her?

A moment passed.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. He tugged at the collar of his dark, button-up shirt, wishing it had come equipped with sleeves to help hide his injuries.

"N-no," she insisted, her face pale and ghostly. "I just wasn't expecting... I s-suppose..."

Another moment passed. The two of them stood staring stupidly at each other in the darkness. Her face white and sickly-looking. His face burning with blood.

"You aren't gonna' throw up again, are you?" Shadow eventually asked.

Her cheeks soon regained their color, and Amy Rose smiled, her grin even breaking open into a laugh. "No! No, I'm not."

He nodded. "Good."

Silence reigned in the bedroom.

"I... I guess I'll leave you be," she finally said, the awkwardness evident in her tone. She mindlessly combed a stray hair out of her eyes with her fingers. "Good night, John."

He watched her back away and out of the room, wanting to say more, hoping to God something might come to mind, an excuse to keep her close. To know her better. But his mind was blank.

"Good night, Amelia."

"Please. Call me Amy."

"... Alright, Amy."

...

Sonic could remember it like it was mere days ago.

_"Sheriff! Sheriff, come quick!"_

His body still ached with the agony of despair.

_"It's a fire! The orphanage is on fire!"_

His nostrils still smelled the smoldering ash, the roiling smoke.

_The blue hedgehog's legs were moving before his brain even registered what was happening. His heart was racing, beating in tandem with the clinking steel of his rattling badge. The gold flickered and flared in the glaring sunlight._

_"Everybody get indoors! Somebody bring water!" he was barking orders as he ran, sprinted ever-closer to his ill destiny._

_Mothers ushered their children inside. Men scrambled about for buckets. Sonic made a beeline for the Ark._

He collapsed to the ground despite his best efforts to stand and escape the saloon. The floor stunk of feet and alcohol and blood. His eyelids fluttered closed as the cold overtook him. The nightmares rushed in with the darkness as he lost consciousness.

_The Ark Orphanage was a huge building that resided along the outskirts of Westown, and it was crumbling and black by the time the hero finally arrived._

_Gray plumes of smoke boiled and blotted out the sun above, casting hellishly dark shadows along the sandy ground around its base. Orange-red fire exploded somewhere within the center of the building, and the walls around it melted and burned away into nothingness. _

_Sonic came closer to the manse, his jade eyes glancing to and fro in search of life. _

_"Someone, get water! Hurry!" he cried as he stared helplessly at the flaming ruin. Gerald Robotnik was in there. So was Maria. So was Ivo. Others. Nameless orphans. He had to save them. He _had _to. _

_Nobody was going to die while Sonic the hedgehog was sheriff._

_"Hold on!" he shouted into the hellfire after only seconds of waiting. "I'm comin' inside!"_

_He barreled forward, smashing the front door to the house to smithereens with a strong shoulder as he rushed inside. Flames licked at his skin as he ran deeper into the endless abyss of fire._

_"Mister Robotnik! Maria! Ivo?"_

_Smoke burned his eyes and throat. The fury of hell was bright and blinding. Loud and deafening. _

_"Somebody! Answer me, please!"_

_Something inside the toppling structure snapped and fell with a crash and a spray of sparks and ash._

_"Where the _hell _is that goddamned water?"_

_Then the devil clasped his hand around the sheriff's throat and squeezed._

...

_The robot named Metal Sonic emerged from the smoke and fire, his indigo, metallic skin gleaming red from within the flame. The blue hedgehog's eyes popped and went wide like they would implode within his skull as they met with the scarlet eyes of a heartless android. Emerald clashed against electrically-charged crimson._

**Leave no survivors.**

_The dark blue monstrosity held Sonic by the neck, choking the already oxygen-deprived hedgehog. He marched him backwards, away from the inside of the building and back out into the desert. Away from the dying screams of the innocent. Away from the writhing, blackening corpses of Maria and Gerald Robotnik._

**Leave no evidence.**

_With a powerful flick of his wrist, Metal Sonic hurled the sheriff out of the flames, his body smoldering and smoke whirling around his body as he flew. The organic inferior landed oddly on his back, and a sick _snap _resounded through the wind. The crackling and popping of the dying building was nothing compared to the cry of pain that erupted from Sonic's mouth as connected with the earth._

**Leave no witnesses.**

_The new-and-improved sheriff of Westown brought his bolt-action rifle from the depths of his flaming overcoat and leveled it until the sights were fixed upon the fallen hero. Sonic had seen far too much, he decided as he went to pull the trigger._

_"That's quite enough, don't you think?" _

_Sonic strained to find the familiar voice, somewhere behind him but far away from his ringing ears. But when he finally turned he saw Ivo Robotnik looming above him, an unlit cigar tucked between his rubbery lips. He sneered down at the stunned hedgehog with vicious delight in his eyes. "Sheriff Sonic," he chortled quietly. He tipped an invisible hat and peered down the nose of his glasses. "Fancy seeing you here."_

_"Wh-... what the hell...?" Sonic tried to rise but failed as his robotic counterpart jabbed his ribs with the barrel of his rifle. "Ivo!" he coughed, his breath lost amidst the chaos. "What's going on here? What the hell is this thing? We've... we've gotta' save Maria, and Gerald, a-and the others!"_

_Robotnik strolled calmly past him, shaking his head in mock-disappointment as he wandered dangerously close to the fire. "A noble thought, sheriff," he admitted, prying the cigarette from his maw and twirling it mindlessly for a moment. Then he dipped one end of the fag into the flames of the destroyed orphanage until it began to crackle with sweet, toxic smoke. Ivo brought the live cigar out of the ashes of the damned and took a long, deep drag. "But I'm afraid the effort would be... fruitless, you see."_

_He exhaled a curtain of gray through his teeth as he smiled. "They're long dead."_


	11. Chapter 11

_The fat man turned nonchalantly on his heel, glancing fondly at the robot who held Sonic at gunpoint. "Do you like him, sheriff?" he asked, gnawing at his cigar. Ash and smoke sputtered in the wind. "I made him myself, actually. To replace you, you see."_

"_You…" Sonic's voice trembled with anger and fear and bewilderment. "You bastard! That's your family in there! You're just going to let them die while you brag about-…" _

_The hedgehog shot upright and shoved the barrel of Metal Sonic's bolt-action away from him. The steel made a hollow _thud _sound as it connected with the sand. "About some dumbass robot?"_

"_Oh, please," the man scoffed, apparently offended. "Don't be so crude." He paused to take a drag. "You seem to misunderstand; my family has been dead for nearly an hour. This fire…" _

_His arm swept out widely as he motioned to the howling flame behind him. "… is simply a show."_

"_S-… show?"_

"_Yes. A show."_

"_What the _hell_ are you talking about?"_

"_I'm afraid the answer you're searching for is far simpler than you'd like to hear." _

_Robotnik aimed a shadowy, meaty, outstretched palm at his creation, who stood at rapt attention, perfectly motionless. Ready to kill at a moment's notice. Red-orange sunlight glanced off of his steely skin. "This is Metal Sonic; an exact replica of yourself, dear sheriff, but without any of your… organic imperfections. He is faster, stronger… _better_."_

_The fat man tossed his cigarette aside and watched as it suffocated in the dirt. "Oh yes, and he is also the murderer of Maria and Gerald Robotnik. How silly of me to forget. But of course, he's not officially a killer. No. Officially, they perished in the fire. The others did die in the fire, however. That part is in fact true."_

_Sonic could only look on as the insane doctor explained, his emerald eyes murky and clouded with shock. _

"_But 'why' is the real question, isn't it, sheriff? Why would I, humble, goodhearted genius Ivo Robotnik, betray my own blood?" The large man planted himself upon the charred steps of the orphanage entrance. The blackened wood creaked and squealed beneath his immense weight. "The answer is, as I said, quite simple."_

_The bluish-tinted lenses of his spectacles flickered in the sunset. "Because I had what the government needed. And they had what I wanted. A mere exchange of goods and services." He raised his hands and gestured to the darkening silhouette of Westown. "The death of my grandfather's livelihood, for the security and benefits of power. A fair trade, wouldn't you say?"_

"_You son of a bitch!" Sonic screamed, his tone terrified and disgusted and vengeful and ashamed all at once. "How could you kill them? For freaking money! For some bullshit the government fed you! What the hell is wrong with you?"_

"_Please," Robotnik huffed, once more sounding offended. "Don't blame me for this. It was GUN, I tell you. The government felt that my grandfather's research had become too dangerous. You know of his research, yes? He experimented quite often. Dabbled in the creation of artificial lifeforms. Foolish, really. He would have stuck to robots, like me, if he was a smart man."_

_Then the man's eyes developed a devilish twinkle. "By the way… would you like to see him in action?"_

_There was no time for a reply as Metal Sonic thrusted the butt of his rifle into the deposed lawman's neck. A bony _crack _echoed solidly through the desert, and the blue hedgehog could only gasp in surprise as the wind fled from his body. His body wavered and wobbled, but did not fall. He coughed crimson bloodstuff._

_The barrel of the same gun swung upwards with the swiftness of a bullet, effectively smacking into and through the weak, soft cartilage that made up the nose. Bright red and green fluids sprayed unceremoniously into the hot air. Colors flared and sparked in Sonic's vision as he fell backwards and into the dirt. His hat drifted to the ground beside him shortly after._

_Metal Sonic scraped bloody snot off of the chrome surface of his rifle. _

_"Sheriff! We got the buckets! We... hey. What the hell's goin' on?"_

_Sonic's eyelids fluttered as he struggled to see who was speaking. Three civilians. Each holding a pailful of water. The trio of men were dumbfounded by the sight of the fallen hero, the robot who had beaten him, and the sole surviving member of the Robotnik family._

_"R-run...!" the hedgehog exclaimed. "Get away! Hurry!"_

...

**Leave no witnesses.**

_The round meant for Sonic flew from the barrel of the rifle in an explosion of graphic color and noise. There was a hoarse crunching sound as the bullet speared into the civilian's skull and tore into the brain. Greymatter trickled from the fresh hole as blood oozed from the mouth. The poor, unarmed man dropped his bucket and choked for a long, agonizing moment. _

_Then he fell to the ground. Dead._

_The two men at his sides leapt into action, each dropping their buckets in a flurry of motion. Water splashed across the bloodstained sand and mixed and melted into the corpse's fluids. The one on the dead man's right took up his pistol just in time to see Metal Sonic chamber another round and pull the trigger._

_A hurricane of fire and lead rushed through the man's throat and sprayed scarlet life-juices into the arid night. More choking. More dying._

_Sonic was on his feet, his finger on the trigger of his Mauser pistol. _

_Metal Sonic's crimson eyes flickered for not even a tenth of a second as he readjusted his grip on his rifle. _

_The barrel of the bolt-action swung hard and fast into the Blue Blur's head. There was a sick _crack _as his ears leaked blood and his skull rattled on his spine. The organic hedgehog tumbled to the ground, his fingers holding fast to the pistol even as he fell._

_"Gotcha' ya' bastard!" the final civilian announced as he pulled back the hammer on his revolver. _

_Metal Sonic didn't bother looking as he squeezed off another shot, his eyes still locked with Sonic's. With one hand the robot fired an explosive ball of death straight through the last man's right eye. Blood spewed from the wound like water from a demented spring._

_"Oh, God!" he screamed bloody murder, clutching madly at his bleeding face. Gore squished down his chin and hands, and tears blended with optical nerves and bloodstuff. "God, why? My eye! Sheriff, h-help!"_

_Robotnik chuckled dryly at the sight, a puff of smoke leaking from his mouth._

_Sonic's ears rang like hell, and he couldn't find the strength to stand. His eyes stared through the haze of blood that pounded behind his forehead and out at the dying man before him. Metal Sonic wasted no time as he marched behind the kneeling, whimpering form of the innocent man. One of his cold, steel talons dug under the skin and stabbed into the mangled eye socket. _

_Screams echoed loud in Sonic's mind and never stopped._

_"Now, sheriff," the fat man spoke, his voice miles away, "I'd like your word on the matter." Chubby, gloved fingers jerked the hedgehog's head upright, forcing the hero to watch as the android began his torture. "That you will never..." Robotnik yanked Sonic's head back higher. "... _never _speak of this to anyone."_

_"D-... don't do it, sheriff..." the man moaned in agony. Metal Sonic hooked his claw deeper into the man's skull. Wet snapping noises resounded through the air, and the civilian's breath hitched. _

_Robotnik puffed his cigar close to the blue hedgehog's face, and the fire singed his green eyes. "Well, sheriff? Do I have your word?"_

_Everything seemed to stop for a long, painful moment._

_Then Sonic finally choked out a reply, his lips dry with sand and blood and his eyes wet and red with tears. _

_"G-..." _

_Metal Sonic's joints tensed and whirred with anticipation. Robotnik held his breath._

_"Go to _hell _you son of a bitch."_

_The human made a scoffing sound and pried the dying fag from his mouth. "I can't say I was expecting anything less," he huffed. Then he nodded to his cruel creation._

**Leave.**

_The ghastly crunching sound smacked wetly against the air as Metal Sonic wrenched backwards, tearing flesh and bone as his scalpel-thumb dragged the man's skull down his spine. The screams of the damned innocent was lost as the robot used his unnatural strength to pull his head off of his body. Sinews snapped and muscles broke. Blood squirted and squelched. _

**No.**

_Sonic sobbed uselessly as the android tore hard and fast, ripping apart the fleshy, organic matter in a flurry of red. A head fell to the ground without its body as the sheriff's spirit shattered. _

**Witnesses.**

...

"Oh, God!"

Shadow awoke with a start, his skin drenched in coldsweat and his eyes wide with icy terror. His breath hitched in his chest and his heart hammered. The dank, blue darkness felt alien, the nighttime suddenly very confining and claustrophobic. The black hedgehog panted heavily and ran a hand down his face, smearing blood across his pale skin.

Blood? He pulled away from his hand saw the hot, crimson fluids drooling down his fingers and dripping onto the sheets. His mouth formed what should have been a scream but came out silent and dead. Blood. Oh, God. Blood. Her blood. Whose blood? _Hers. _Why? God, why?

Tears streamed from his eyes, white-hot and slippery. The saltwater-sadness washed his vision and blurred the corners of his sight. He realized then that there was no blood. Only sweat. Only tears.

Shadow the hedgehog wept quietly into his palms when he tried to remember whose blood he had seen. His sobs became dry and hoarse when he couldn't think of her name. Then his body shook when he forgot the blood and the girl entirely and only recalled that he was scared for his life.

"John?"

He jolted to life when he heard the door creak open.

His body was a flicker of shadow as he bled into the darkness, rolling from the mattress and onto the hardwood floorboards. He got to his knees and snatched his revolver from the pocket of his trench-coat and yanked back the hammer. The bullet chambered with a cold, mechanical _click _as he aimed it squarely at the doorway. Gunmetal-silver gleamed in the light of the moon that filtered through the window above.

"Stop," he spoke sharply, his finger a hair's breadth away from the trigger.

The door squeaked to a halt.

"J-John... it's Amy. It's Amelia."

Shadow blinked warily, his mind racing and blurring the lines between reality and nightmare. His finger uncurled slowly, away from the trigger-mechanism.

The stranger behind the door went to move, her footsteps groaning on the wood and telegraphing her movements.

"I-I said stop!" the black hedgehog snapped, reflexively bringing his finger back to the trigger.

"John, what-?"

"I mean it. Stop."

"It's Amy, don't you remember...?"

"I will blow your brains all over the goddamned wall!"

"What's the matter with you!?" the person cowered, suddenly fearful. "What are you talking about?"

Shadow's lips trembled as he struggled to maintain his composure. "After the hell you put her through!" he shouted, his brain drifting back into the nightmare realm, "I will end you, you bastard!"

"J-John! Please, stop it, you're scaring me!" The door opened on its own, a ghostly draft pushing it along. The stranger was revealed to be the girl who had worn the preacher's clothes. Her jade eyes glimmered with tears when they locked with his own scarlet ones. "It's just me, please. It's Amy Rose."

The mysterious stranger's strength was sapped from his body when he recognized her, her bubblegum-colored hair glowing softly in the moonlight. His gun clattered to the floor as his grip faltered and his heart fell into his stomach. "Oh, Jesus..." he breathed, horrified of himself. "Oh, Jesus Christ, I'm so sorry. I... I'm so sorry."

Amy Rose stared at him sadly, her shivering body scarcely covered by the pale nightgown that was draped over her shoulders. She sniveled weakly, wiping her nose with her arm as she spoke, "I didn't mean... I-I wasn't trying to scare you. I heard you yell, and..."

She trailed-off.

Shadow couldn't stop the tears this time as he forgot her name once more. The girl he was yelling about only seconds ago was now miles away, lost to his fragmented memory once again. "N-no," he cried softly, unable to control the nightmare any longer. "I just... I had a nightmare... I-I..."

He wasn't sure how it happened, but suddenly her arms were around him in a gentle embrace, his head resting against her breast. His face was wet and hot and her skin was cool and dry. He sobbed into the girl called Amy Rose, ashamed and terrified and alone and lost all at once.

"She's dead," he repeated, a demonic chant that he couldn't control. "She's dead, she's dead, she's dead, she's dead, she's dead, she's dead..."

The preacher's daughter shushed him and hugged him until he fell back to asleep in her embrace.


	12. Chapter 12

Shadow sat silently beside the preacher's daughter, his bloodshot eyes rimmed with the darkness of a sleepless, nightmarish night. He was hunched over in his seat on the bench, his elbows resting on his knees and his gaze locked with the wooden flooring of the train station.

Amy Rose stifled a yawn, glancing at the stranger every so often with curiosity in her eyes. But she stayed quiet, her instincts telling her to do so. Whatever he had seen last night… it must have been horrible, she concluded. Certainly not something he would like to discuss. Especially not with a naïve farmhand.

She sighed and stared out at the train tracks, her hands folded in the lap of her dress patiently.

"You didn't have to come."

Her ears perked up at the sound of his voice.

His scarlet eyes met hers briefly, and he cleared his throat before continuing. "I… could've made it to the station by myself."

She nodded hurriedly and brushed away the thoughts of the broken man she had seen the night before. "Well, it was nothin' really. I just didn't want you waiting here all by your lonesome."

Shadow seemed to pause, his mind flickering with exhaustion. "Well…" he trailed-off, unable to think of a good retort and eventually conceding to the girl's persistent kindness. "Thank you, Amy."

Amy giggled. "I said it was nothing, John."

He blinked slowly, his elbows tensing on the material of his jeans. His fingers plucked a cigar from the pocket of his trench coat, and he placed it between his lips as he searched for a match.

The girl beside him coughed into her fist.

Shadow blinked again and glanced at her with mild confusion in his gaze. Then he glanced down at the cig in his mouth. He bit down on the roll and admitted defeat as he tore it from his teeth and tucked it away. "Sorry," he told her. "It's a helluva' habit."

She smiled softly at him. The bluish glow of dawn shined in the jade of her eyes, and the dark hedgehog couldn't stop himself from staring into them. "Father used to smoke," she admitted. "The Bible says that the body is a temple, though, so he stopped."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shadow huffed.

"Well… the body is a temple."

"Yeah. And?"

"Would you smoke in a temple?"

"Maybe."

Amy was taken slightly aback. "When would it ever be okay to smoke in a temple?" she demanded.

The black hedgehog sat for a while, pondering quietly. He finally offered up a frustrated frown and replied, "If it was a Catholic temple."

She stared at him dumbly.

He shrugged at her silence and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't like Catholics."

Amelia Rose couldn't help but laugh at the seriousness of his tone and statement, and she put a hand over her mouth to block the happy noise but failed. She snorted and turned away as she giggled madly. "That…" she chuckled, "… t-that ain't funny, you know."

Shadow couldn't hold back the smile that forced itself onto his lips as he listened to her beautiful laugh. "It wasn't supposed to be."

She composed herself, unable to and not caring to contain her own crescent-moon smile. "Well… it was," she conceded.

…

Sonic blinked awake with a headache from hell and a sore spine. The horrid, dry taste of morning was stale and unwelcome in his mouth, and he spat reflexively as he rose from the alcohol and bloodstained floorboards. His arms throbbed with hurt that ran a steady, unpleasant heartbeat through his whole body.

But he was sober.

He slapped himself until he could see straight, his dark jade eyes glazing-over and his vision turning fuzzy until he snapped into awareness.

He wasn't all that alert…

Sonic coughed and stumbled to his feet, pushing the kinks in his back out with gross _snaps_.

… but what the hell. Better than drunk-as-shit.

Fighting down his alcoholism as he went, he wandered over behind the bar to see if Knuckles kept any water behind the counter.

…

The train was whistling to a screeching halt when Shadow finally returned his attention to the tracks before him. He pulled himself up and strolled over to meet it, leaning on one of the beams that supported the large, wooden overhang as he waited for the vehicle to stop. Steam washed over the floor and ran like water over his body as it blew through the station with a foggy whoosh of air.

Shadow's coat flapped in the hot wind. He turned to look at the girl one last time, only to find her eyes filled with a strange sadness. "Hey, you alright?"

She put on a fake smile and walked over to his side. "I can't lie and say I ain't gonna' miss you."

"Ain't," he said, smirking as he met her stare, "ain't a word, Miss Rose."

Her smile ruptured and turned sour, and she huffed childishly as she crossed her arms in frustration. "Well, you _ain't _leavin' a very pleasant taste in my mouth, stranger."

He chuckled. "I'm not known for my goodbyes."

They looked at each other for a moment, the bustle of the departing passengers swarming around them like a rushing river.

"I really am going to miss you, John."

His heart sank a little even as he worked his hardest to build up a lick of courage. He took a deep breath and spoke, "Amelia, I-…"

_Thump._

The bat came out of nowhere and blindsided the dark hedgehog, cursing as she dropped her suitcase. The baggage crashed to the floor and spilled its contents along the ground; clothing and something metallic clattered across the floorboards.

Shadow was taken aback, his focus quickly shifting to the woman before him. She was glaring at him with hard, inflamed, fiery green eyes, her beautiful face contorted into a look of anger.

"Watch where you're going," she hissed, kneeling down at shoving things away into her luggage. "_Estúpido_."

He shook his head and knelt with her, forgetting what he had been saying. "Pardon," he offered, picking up a dress and handing it over. "I wasn't all there, I suppose."

The woman muttered something else under her breath in Spanish as she snatched the cloth away.

Amy joined the fray as well, bending down to help. "Here. Let me."

Shadow mindlessly shoveled things off of the ground, handing them to the bat without a second thought.

Until he felt the cold steel of a weapon in his grasp.

He blinked and glanced down at the thing in his hands, shocked to see a long, crimson sheath made of some kind of expensive metal. The handle that protruded from the end was curved and decorated with gold, with a guard that looked like a spider's web made of silver. His eyes widened when he pulled the handle out an inch and revealed the fine, white blade within.

A sword. Cutlass, if Shadow remembered the make correctly.

"Nice blade," he remarked, showing it to the bat questioningly.

Her own eyes widened when she saw him handling it, but they narrowed just as fast as she regained her composure. "It is," she spat, stealing it away from him and tucking it back into her suitcase. "Watch where you're going next time."

…

Rouge the bat was on her feet again in seconds, her heart racing as she walked off the platform and into the sandy road outside. The cool shadows of the station abandoned her as the sun took its place over her head, beating down upon her with ferocious intensity. She reflexively double-checked the latch on her luggage, cursing herself for not being more careful.

"Too close," she whispered, placing a hand over her heart as though to steady her pulse. "Too damn close."

Slowing her pace, her eyes scanned the landscape before her, instinctively locating the saloon and sheriff's office. She saw the dark blue hedgehog in his trench coat, too, his stance unassuming as he leaned against the wall of the train station with forced nonchalance. Deep crimson eyes glared at her from beneath the wide brim of his hat.

Rouge fixed her clothes and took in a calming breath as she approached him. "Are you my informant?"

His gaze flickered for a moment as he processed her words. Then he rose from his place on the wall, tugging his rifle with him and drawing a line in the sand. "I am Mayor Robotnik's confidant. Yes."

She immediately held out her hand, flicking her painted nails at the man. "The money. Now."

He nodded slowly, digging the rings out of his pocket and holding them over her open palm. "Half now," he said, letting some of the golden currency trickle out of his claws, "and half after you have eliminated the target."

"Stubborn bastard, aren't you?" she said with a wry smile, closing her fist around the payment, relishing in the cool, metallic feel of the rings on her skin. "Fine. Where is he?"

He turned and jabbed a long, serrated talon down the road. "You will find Shadow the hedgehog in the saloon. He wears a rusted badge and reeks of alcohol."

Cryptic, she thought as she followed his gaze. "Consider it done," she promised as she continued on her way. But it was just another job in the end.

She readied the hidden pistols in her sleeves, smiling as each device clicked in reply. The garrote scraped the ankle inside her left boot. Just another job.

…

Metal Sonic's heart would have been pounding if he had possessed one.

The lie had succeeded. Just as planned. Just as _he _had planned. His mind raced as he calculated how much time he had left to work, then calmed himself when he decided that he had plenty.

The train whistled behind him, and the engine rumbled to life with a deafening roar as the wheels began to churn forward.

The sheriff cocked back the hammer on his rifle and marched up the steps and into the station.

…

Shadow leaned back into his seat and sighed sadly as he gazed out the window. Amy Rose waved back at him with a horribly fake smile on her face. He raised a hand and tried his best to return the favor, but could not find the strength to do so. So he merely rested his gloved fingers on the dingy glass and stared.

And so, deep in chaotic thought and disappointment, Shadow the hedgehog did not see the metallic hedgehog approaching the back of the train, his weapon drawn and barely concealed within his flowing trench coat.

…

"Hello? Is anybody here?"

Sonic glanced over the bar, surprised at the sound of another person in the empty saloon. He rose from his kneeling position and put away a bottle he had been considering in order to rest his elbows atop the counter.

The woman who entered was carrying a suitcase in her delicate, gloved hands, her finely tanned arms tense with the weight. She glanced shyly around the tavern with warm, seafoam eyes, and her soft, ivory ears were pressed to her head nervously. The wings on her back flicked and flexed, the velvety material glowing violet against the yellow sun at her back.

When she saw the blue hedgehog, her eyes lit up like matchsticks. "Oh, hello," she said sweetly.

Sonic blinked and remembered where he was, and he shook his head in hopes of clearing his mind. "Bar's closed. Sorry."

She seemed taken aback, and she looked ashamed as she stared at the toes of her boots. "Oh. I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."

He paused and looked at her a little harder, cocking his head curiously. Something scratched at the base of his skull, his brain tingling strangely. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that… what'd you need?"

She smiled in reply. "You're fine. I was looking for someone, actually. Are you the sheriff?"

Sonic frowned and came out from behind the bar, fixing his vest-jacket and feeling for the Mauser in his holster. His hand flinched at the cold steel, then relaxed as he let his thumb rest on the hammer as he walked over to the girl. He unconsciously fixed his badge and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm in charge around here," he told himself as well as her. "What'd you need, miss?"

…

The train was already moving out of the station as Metal Sonic latched onto the caboose with one inhumanly strong hand. His fingers hooked into the railing easily as he threw himself over and onto the floor, his bolt-action ready and raised. He grabbed the doorknob that led inside and pulled hard, but the lock did not budge.

No matter.

Without a second thought, he squeezed the trigger and blew the handle to smithereens. Gunsmoke, ash, and splinters exploded within the flash of amber fire.

The door was flung open without further complications.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?"

The two workers inside the first compartment gawked at the robot with wide eyes and gaping mouths. One raised his hand and pointed an accusatory finger in the metal hedgehog's direction.

"You aren't supposed to be back here. You ain't got a ticket, you scram-!"

The bullet entered and exited his throat with a bloody smack that ended his complaints with the pull of a trigger.

…

Shadow heard the second gunshot and knew then that something was wrong.

Glancing around, the dark hedgehog half-rose from his seat, causing the other passengers to watch on with wondering eyes. He felt for his revolver and drew back his longcoat as he started to stand, his legs shaking as he stood upright on the rumbling floor.

"Everybody! Stick 'em the hell up! This here's a robbery!"

Shadow whirled around just in time to see the five men at the front of the car shoot from their seats and reveal a pistol each, with the exception of one rat in the back who beheld a shotgun for all the passengers to see.

The weasel at the front sneered evilly, with two sharp purple eyes that gleamed with the energy of an asylum escapee. Insanity oozed from his words like blood as he barked his commands.

"Nobody frickin' move! Or it's straight to hell with cha'! You got that?"

Shadow quickly ducked down behind the seat in front of him, drawing his pistol and yanking back the hammer.

That was about the time that the door at the back of the compartment burst open in an explosion of smoke and fire as the lock disintegrated and popped off with a _crack_.


	13. Chapter 13

"I'm looking for a Shadow the hedgehog. Could you tell me where I might find him?"

The drunkard's eyes widened at the sound of the name, and Rouge knew then that she had found her mark. The blue hedgehog stared at her for a time, his jade eyes hazy and wondering as though he was deep in thought.

Then he made a clucking sound with his dry lips and blinked at her. "I think you oughta' come along with me, miss."

"It's Rouge," she told him suddenly, grabbing his hand. He flinched at the contact. "Rouge the bat."

He pulled away gently, his fingers stretching and spanning outwards as he nodded, as though he were shaking off something vile. "Right. Rouge. Come with me. I'll… I'll take you to Shadow."

She smiled warmly at him as he turned around and motioned for her to follow as he climbed the stairs to the second floor of the saloon. "Thank you ever so much, sheriff."

He glanced back at her and flashed a worn grin. "Yeah. Don't mention it."

…

"Shadow the hedgehog," the dark blue menace at the door boomed, his rifle held high in his hand. With the other he clasped the doorway, his claws sinking into the wood as he stood his ground. Wind and gunsmoke blew through the folds of his coat, sending it billowing in the air like a cape. "You are charged with crimes against Westown and Mayor Robotnik."

Shadow ducked further down into his seat, his grip on his gun tightening as he glanced back at the robot in shock. The people screamed and cowered in their seats, holding their hands above their heads as though it would protect them from the gunfire. Children cried. Mothers wailed. Men shivered.

"Gun!" the weasel cried out, his eyes turning scared and unblinking as he staggered back a step and held up his pistol in retaliation. "He's got a gun!"

Before Metal Sonic could say another word, the bullets began to fly.

…

"This sure is a nice room. It's got one of them fancy mirrors and everything."

"Yeah, it's nice," Sonic agreed as he locked the door behind him and thumbed off the safety on his machine-pistol. "The barkeep used to rent it out for wanderers and passerby. Like an inn or something."

"Used to?" the bat asked, her eyes fixed upon the mirror and desk at the far end of the room. She walked past the bed and leaned over the tabletop, staring into the glass as though she had never seen one before. "So, where does Shadow stay? I thought you were taking me to him."

The blue hedgehog took a breath and held his pistol to the woman's head, pressing it into the back of her skull as he growled, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Miss Rouge."

…

Metal Sonic leapt forward, his long jacket flapping and flowing around his figure like a cloak of dust as he rocketed into action. Several bullets darted through his coat, tearing the fabric but just missing his steely flesh.

Flipping end-over-end in a blue-brown tornado of motion, the police officer righted himself until his feet were flush with the ceiling, and his body dangled in the air as he activated the magnets in his boots and connected himself with the steel roof with a hard _clack_. His wide-brimmed hat barely held on to his head as he hung from the ceiling, and the bandits at the other end of the aisle caught a glimpse of his hellishly scarlet irises.

The weasel froze with fear as he stared on in terror and amazement, his eyes burning in the pistol-smoke. "What in God's name…?"

Just as quickly as Metal Sonic had stuck himself to the ceiling, he began to run forward in long, loud strides, his feet pounding the metal above him as he sprinted upside-down towards the group of bandits. His blood-red eyes flared with an ungodly intensity as he brought back his rifle like a javelin and hurled it, the long, metal rod of the gun-barrel spinning like a demented top as it whistled through the air.

The bolt-action rifle smashed into one of the hedgehogs on the leader's right, crunching into the criminal's skull and clattering to the floor. The hedgehog sputtered blood and choked loudly as he toppled over.

Still running, Metal Sonic deactivated his magnetic attachment to the ceiling and somersaulted to the ground, rolling as he went.

"Don't just st-stand there!" the weasel hollered, turning around and hiding behind his allies. "Smoke him! Smoke the bastard!"

The rat stepped forward, stomping towards the metallic devil, dragging his shotgun behind him. He put one foot on top of the sheriff's rifle and the other on the carpet, keeping the weapon just out of reach. "Try ta' jump out of this one, bunny-rabbit," he chuckled in a deep voice as he pumped a round into the chamber and took aim.

…

Rouge saw the ex-sheriff coming in the dusty reflection offered by the mirror just as she had finished unlatching the lock on her luggage.

Whirling around and smacking the gun skyward, she blindsided the hedgehog as she swung her suitcase high. Clothing and other items fluttered through the air and rained down in a torrent of confusion that stunned the blue hedgehog and sent him stumbling backwards. The assassin's eyes trained on the sheath of her cutlass, and she catapulted through the hurricane of nonsense and snatched the sword out of the air.

She landed before the shocked hedgehog with a devilish smile on her face as she peeled the blade from its case. The thin, white line of death danced in her hand as she twirled it in a display of skill. "I've been waiting to use this little toy for a _long _time."

"Oh, have you now?" Sonic snarled, recovering himself as he aimed his pistol from the waist.

Rouge nodded and snapped the hidden pistol out of her sleeve, loosing a round of fiery lead into the man's gun-hand before he could react in time. Blood seeped from his palm as his gun smacked into the floorboards and slid away.

"Damn," he cursed, wincing in pain and locking gazes with the enemy before him.

The bat-girl tossed away her one-shot weapon and spun the sword in her hand. "But nobody's ever lasted long enough for me to try it out."

"Well, I can assure you, little missy," Sonic replied, cracking the kinks out of his neck as he raised his fists, "I can last a long time."

She laughed a filthy laugh and jumped forth, flapping her wings and rising high above her prey before spiraling down towards him blade-first.

The Blue Blur rolled away just in time as she plunged the cutlass into the wooden ground. He got to his knees and readied himself.

"Enough foreplay," she hissed, drawing back her weapon and bending her knees in a sort-of fighting stance. "Let's dance."

…

Shadow the hedgehog barreled from his chair and fired two shots at the rat as he dived into the aisle. "Everybody get down!" he cried.

One exploded through the bandit's shoulder, and the other through his ribs, and each elicited a horrifying screech of agony as he fell to his knees and dropped his shotgun to the floor.

Metal Sonic did not hesitate, lurching forward with the motion of the train and taking up the fallen firearm. His finger found the trigger easily, and the barrel fit perfectly in the slope of the man's throat.

A hellish _bang _resounded through the car as the robber's head exploded into pieces, blood spattering the walls and floorboards. The android's face was slick with sticky, red fluid as he stood from the floor and turned around to face the black hedgehog.

"Two down," Shadow observed as he stepped forward cautiously, eyeing the strange sheriff as he approached. "The other three made a break for it while you were down."

Metal Sonic ignored this statement and responded by jabbing his newly acquired shotgun into Shadow's ribcage.

The black and red hedgehog's brow furrowed, and he slapped the barrel away with the butt of his pistol. "I just saved your ass," he told him.

"Irrelevant," the robot retorted as he readjusted his aim. "You are wanted on charges of arson. Dead or alive."

Shadow only stared, his eyes narrowed and deathly serious. He slowly raised his hands above his head, his pistol hanging from his thumb.

Metal Sonic moved to take the gun from his loose grip, his hand outstretched. "You will come with me to Westown, where you will face public execution. No trial will be necessary-…"

"Where the hell have I seen you before?"

The robot froze, his artificial gaze flickering as he returned his attention to the convict's eyes. Scarlet clashed with scarlet. After a moment of silence, the officer answered by snatching away his quarry's revolver.

Then something above their heads exploded, sending a horrid shudder through the compartment as the wheels shook and sputtered beneath their feet. Passengers screamed in terror as the car suddenly tipped to one side, the train balancing on its left set of wheels as the explosion tipped the immense vehicle until it had almost toppled off of the tracks.

Shadow slid, banging his side into the wooden arm of one of the many seats. Grunting and cursing, he grasped the chair's back for support as he righted himself. Metal Sonic, unfazed or uncaring or both, seemed to visibly tense as he held himself in place with sheer willpower.

When the train righted itself and clanged back onto the tracks, the two enemies looked at each other for a long moment.

Then Metal Sonic tossed Shadow's pistol back to its owner. "Do not attempt to escape," he commanded as he kicked open the door behind him and stepped outside.

…

Rouge swung diagonally, her cutlass slicing the air as Sonic leapt aside and countered with a whirling kick. His boot slammed into the blade and drove it to the ground, the bat-girl falling to one knee as she held on with all of her strength. She stumbled and cursed, dancing away and recovering as she adjusted her grip on the sword.

The blue hedgehog flung himself forward, his legs a whirlwind of movement and speed as he twirled through the air and delivered another kick to the blade, which wobbled and recoiled at the force of the blow. Rouge used the momentum to her advantage, taking two steps back until she was against the wall, kicking off of the wooden barrier and lunging forward, weapon held at chest-level.

Sonic jumped away, narrowly avoiding impalement as the bat curved her attack into an uppercut, just barely cutting into the hedgehog's nose. A drop of blood trickled from the wound.

The hero sprinted forward once more, his moves bold and stupid as he grabbed the sword by the blade and shoved it skyward. Rouge's eyes widened in shock as he pressed his palms into the sharpened edge and forced the cutlass back against her chest until the two were inches apart, their panting breaths burning their eyes. The cool iciness of the ivory blade was all that stood between them as they stood face-to-face.

"You're going to tell me everything that you know about Shadow the hedgehog," Sonic demanded, blood oozing from his hands, staining the white gloves red and pink like a flower painted by Satan.

"Don't play dumb with me, _serpiente_," she hissed, pushing against him with all her might. "You're Shadow the hedgehog."

"The hell I am," he replied, letting up on the sword, leaning casually into the blade as the blood began to rain from his hands. He stood on one foot, lying vertically on the cutlass like he was leaning into a wall for support. "The name's Sonic, darling. Sonic the hedgehog."

"Arrogant bastard!" she cried as she sidestepped suddenly, sending the hedgehog tumbling into the wall as he was caught off-guard. Like pulling the rug out from under a dumb animal, she observed with an evil smirk.

Sonic sat up, rubbing his head sorely as he regained his composure. His bloodstained gloves smeared pinkish goo across his quills as he did so. "You're the second person who come through this way looking for a Shadow," he remarked, standing from the floor. "What's he done, huh? Why're you after the poor fool, anyhow?"

Rouge flicked her sword until the blade was clean of bloodstuff, sending droplets of crimson fluid flying from the blade and coloring the floorboards red. "It doesn't matter what _you _did. All that matters is that GUN wants you dead."

The blue hedgehog's ears perked up and his stomach turned cold. "GUN…?" he asked slowly, hesitantly. "What the hell does GUN have to do with all this?"

The bat ran forth, slicing horizontally and nearly cutting the hedgehog in two as Sonic barely cleared the blade, jumping above the attack and somersaulting over the girl, falling ungracefully on his rear before rolling away and regaining his footing. Rouge glared hard at him and revealed her second pistol, aiming it as his head as she spoke.

"You'd best quit worrying about why, hon, and start worrying about me."

…

Metal Sonic led the way as the two exited the car and stood precariously atop the platform that connected the train's compartments, Shadow following suit and glancing around at the rushing desert landscape, his jacket flapping in the wind and his hat nearly coming off as a gust of hot air blasted his face.

With one hand, he held his hat to his skull, and with the other he held his pistol at the ready. "Where'd they go?" he shouted above the noise of the grinding gears below them.

Metal Sonic turned to him, his hands occupied with two rifles. He slung his bolt-action over his shoulder, leaving only his stolen pump-action shotgun to hold as he responded in an even, surprisingly calm tone, "The rooftop. They are trying to disable the train with concentrated amounts of trinitrotoluene."

Shadow's eyes went wide as he recognized the name for dynamite, and he held out his hand expectantly, leaving his hat to flutter loudly atop his head. "Gimme' that shotgun," he demanded. "This pistol's only got so much range."

The sheriff glared back at him. "You are not a skillful liar."

The black hedgehog might have smiled under other circumstances. "Then to hell with you," he spat.

"Do not forget," Metal Sonic said as he clasped one of the rungs of the ladder beside them, "that as soon as these criminals are dealt with, you will come back to Westown with me." His mechanical skull whirred as his glowing irises narrowed. "And then you will die."

Shadow, this time, did smile, however sarcastically. "Right," he replied, the only thing standing between the two a flimsy, temporary truce. "Looking forward to it."

The indigo hedgehog did not respond as he began to climb, the black and red hedgehog following close behind.

…

The shot rang out just as Sonic thought to jump away, and he felt his arm go numb as he slammed dumbly into the door, forgetting his position in the room and consequently slapping his skull against the wood. "Sonuvabitch," he grumbled, fumbling with the lock as his ears rang with white noise. Blood dribbled down his wrist and onto the doorknob as he tried unsuccessfully to open the door, the mechanism now sticky with gore. "I could really use a drink…"

Rouge moved somewhere behind him, his vision going blurry as he whirled around to face her. Well, it was more of slow, staggering crawl than a whirl, but Sonic was not too worried about the specifics at the time.

"Then allow me," she sneered, her sword held at her side passively, "to help you downstairs."

Her heel smashed into his chest before he could retort, the force of the kick breaking the rusted hinges of the door behind him. Sonic tumbled backwards and out the doorway, his bleeding form somersaulting over itself with painful, sickening snapping noises as he collided with the railing that protected him from falling from the hallway and down into the barroom below. He stood sluggishly, agony piercing his body and mind as he leaned uneasily on the rail. The wood groaned unconfidently.

Sonic the hedgehog's eyelids fluttered as he glanced up from the floor and in the direction of the assassin in the bedroom, blood leaking from his forehead where he must have cut it in his previous tumble. Then his emerald eyes widened when he saw her rushing toward him in a deadly sprint.

"Shit," he coughed as her heel cracked into his chin, her other foot kicking him in the ribs as she backflipped off of his wounded body and dealt a second uppercut to his jaw. The railing behind him snapped to pieces as he was pushed through the weak wood and into the open air above the bar.

Gravity tugged against him and yanked his body to the floor, his spine shivering with sharp, white-hot pain as he smashed through a table and fell to the earth below. His eyes flickered as his breath left him in shuddering waves, and he found himself choking on blood as he stared up at the chandelier above him. His hands twitched with hurt as he found that splinters had lodged themselves into his skin, but he ensured that his gun-arm was still functional as he reached into his jacket-pocket.

…

"You dropped it? How the hell did you drop it? You coulda' killed us!"

"Shuddup! It's not like I was tryin' to! We gotta' get out of here and get this stuff to the engine. It's the only way we can-!

"It's him! It's the goddamned robot!"

The bandit emptied his revolver as he fired blindly at the emerging form of Metal Sonic, his steely skin gleaming with gross, yellow sunlight as he climbed onto the top of the car. Two bullets pinged off of the metal roof and careened off into the distance, and the other two flew harmlessly through air and past the robotic hedgehog. The blue menace stood to his full height just as the final two rounds slapped uselessly into his jacket.

"You frickin' idiot!" the weasel hollered over the wind, grabbing for something inside of his vest as Metal Sonic raised his shotgun. "Don't you know how to shoot a gun?"

"It's the wind, boss-!" the bandit shouted back just as the buckshot blew seventeen holes through his chest and turned his insides to Swiss cheese. Gore and something internal spilled out of his stomach and dangled like puppet strings as he tripped over himself and fell to the floor. His body splattered on the steel roof and left a large, red stain as he slid off of the edge and bounded into the sand below. His bones contorted and snapped with gross popping noises as he bounced off into the desert.

The two desperados watched in fear as the second hedgehog emerged from the ladder, his pistol already aimed at the dog standing guard beside his leader. Shadow fired twice, once at the canine's left knee, then once at his right. The bones inside disintegrated to dust as the bullets exited through the other side, the wounds spewing blood.

The bandit screamed in pain and uselessly fired several shots into the air as his trigger-finger spasmed and twitched wildly. Shadow rushed forward, slowly at first as he got used to the windy atmosphere and the slick surface of the car rooftop, then quickly as he tossed his doubts and fears aside. He stuck the barrel of his forty-five to the dog's forehead and squeezed the trigger once more, kicking the corpse aside and into the dust below as he wiped blood and graymatter off of his face with the sleeve of his jacket.

He jabbed the barrel of his gun at the remaining weasel. Metal Sonic was at his side in less than a second, his boots clicking against the steely ground as he strolled towards the surviving criminal. The magnets in his feet kept him steady as he lowered his shotgun and drew his rifle.

"You are under arrest," the android declared, cocking the hammer on his bolt-action, "for attempted grand theft and assaulting an officer."

The crazed desperado staggered backwards, his hands tucked into his coat-pockets like they were crossed inside of a straitjacket. "S-screw you! Screw both of you, goddamn it! I had it all figured out! This was supposed to be easy money, easy frickin' money!"

Shadow shook his head and took a step forward. "Don't try anything crazy, _compadre_."

"Crazy…? _Crazy_?"

The weasel suddenly tossed away his vest, revealing his scrawny, mangy chest as the leather fluttered away and off into the sky. His face twisted into a wretched grin as he flicked a matchstick along the stiff material of his gunbelt, and the flame wavered and whipped in the wind before he cupped it into his hands for protection. He held the fire to his heart and glared at the two hedgehogs with bloodshot eyes.

The rows of dynamite strapped to his body were dangerously close to coming into contact with the flame as he screamed into the wind. "You ain't seen crazy yet, motherfu-!"

The shot drove through the bandit's hands and out through his spine before he could finish his retort. A bullet-sized hole crunched through his palms and fingers, and the match he had been holding sputtered out and trickled from his grasp. The hole in his sternum seemed bigger, with blood seeping into his dark, greasy fur and into the explosive sticks tied to his flesh. Crimson melted into the orange-red bars of TNT.

The barrel of Shadow the hedgehog's forty-five revolver smoldered as he walked forward, grabbing the dying man's shoulder and holding him upright, for fear that letting him fall to his death might set off the explosives strapped to his corpse. The dark hedgehog did not say a word as the weasel vomited blood onto his trench coat's shoulder, his cold chin resting upon Shadow's form as life fled his body.

"Firing at a man with dynamite attached to his person," Metal Sonic observed coldly, his trigger-finger relaxing ever so slightly, "was a brash decision. If my files did not say otherwise, I might question your sanity."

Shadow turned his head and offered a tired smirk. "Crazy?" he asked with a dry chuckle as he quoted the dead man in his arms. "You ain't seen crazy yet…"

Metal Sonic flinched when the black and red hedgehog suddenly whirled around, his revolving pistol raised and ready to fire. Reflexively, the robot bounded backwards and out of harm's way, aiming his rifle at the fugitive and squeezing the trigger, his thoughts completely focused on the gun aimed at his head.

And it was for this reason that he did not notice Shadow the hedgehog breaking something off of the dead desperado's belt. So Metal Sonic did not see the single stick of dynamite go sailing through the air from the dark hedgehog's hand, flying between the barrel of his gun as well as Shadow's.

And so Metal Sonic realized all-too late what was about to happen as he pulled the trigger and sent a ball of flaming lead hurling into the explosive compound.


	14. Chapter 14

The explosion burned and burled through the wind and singed Metal Sonic's jacket and skin, the flames roaring past him and igniting the air around him. Wicked, scarlet hellfire fountained skyward like liquid magma. A detonating noise like God's gun discharging boomed through the desert, and the train wobbled to and fro along the tracks as it raced ever-closer to its destination.

Shadow's vision spun and ignited like flash-paper as he tumbled through the smoke, off of the roof of the train and into the nightmarish realm of unconsciousness.

_He heard the shot ring out somewhere far below just as he was making his way down the orphanage stairs._

His body hit the ground with a deadly thud and rolled in a stormcloud of dust and blood.

"_Grandfather! Grandfather, no!"_

_The hedgehog's ears perked up at the sound of her screaming, and he broke into a run, half-tumbling and half-sprinting down the steps. His knee scraped against the wooden floorboards at the bottom, carving bloodred scratches across his legs. Scarlet eyes widened with horror when he saw the metal man from hell standing above him. _

The same metal man who had tried to arrest him on the train.

_And as he saw the horrid, black eye of the gun-barrel staring back at him, smoldering with smoke and stained crimson with blood, his body was racked with the sudden, sickening knowledge of death._

_..._

Hours passed before the sheriff finally returned to Westown.

The bolt-action rifle drew a heavy, dark line in the sand as the barrel was dragged through the dirt road. Its wielder kept his cold, crimson eyes forward, even as the smoke roiled off the gun in plumes like clouds of dust. His trench coat was in tatters and his pride in dark, burnt ribbons that trailed behind him like a dark storm.

Metal Sonic glared hard above at the setting sun, its neon red glow blinding to mortal eyes. His vision sparkled and cracked as it tried to adjust to the change of light.

"Anyone else see that?"

The android refused to let them see.

"That's… ain't that the sheriff?"

He would not allow them.

"Hell's bells. He looks like shit."

They could never know of his… his _failure_.

...

"_Ah, Shadow. Good of you to finally join us."_

_The dark hedgehog strained to see who the speaker was, but could only make out a large, dark shape. It was a grotesque blob of immense darkness, with two hellfire-blue eyes made of glass that glared into his soul with maniacal glee. _

_Shadow glanced over to the girl who haunted his dreams. _

_She cowered beside the fallen form of the old man, her arms draped over his body like mourning rags as tears came down from her eyes like rain. Her mane of golden hair could barely conceal her sea-blue eyes, cold and chilled with icy tragedy. _

Maria.

...

The dark blue robot felt something in his leg snap and squeal, and he suddenly toppled into the dirt below. Steadying himself shakily upon his gun, he struggled to rise. His makeshift crutch shifted upon the ground, causing him to stumble back down to his knees.

"Lookit this, fellas."

The lawman's gaze flickered when he heard the voice, quickly locating the men who had surrounded him.

The one at the lead was young. Metal Sonic's database faltered, and he failed to recognize the boy who stood before him, looming over the wounded sheriff with maniacal intent.

"Looks like old ironface has got a boo-boo."

There was a static cackling in the metal menace's audio receptors.

"Yeah."

"Not so tough now."

"Hey. Look me in the eye, ironface."

Metal Sonic felt the pistol pressing into his forehead before he could react in time. The hedgehog in front of him sneered evilly, his thumb inching towards the hammer and his eyes locked with his prey. "Stand up."

The injured officer tried to obey, however humiliating, his broken leg splintering and sparking as he stood. There was a hard _smack _as the barrel of the man's gun connected with the robot's, denting his already scarred skull and tossing him back to his knees.

More laughter. People left the safety of their homes to watch the young punks terrorize the metal monster of Westown.

Metal Sonic could feel their gazes burning holes into his skin.

...

"_Don't be alarmed. We're just here to do a little… house-cleaning."_

_The dark blob shuddered with a deep chuckle. _

"_I suppose you don't believe me, do you?"_

_Shadow the hedgehog got up on his knees, slowly at first as he searched for the stairway's railing. He leaned on the wood shakily, his hands cold and clammy as he felt the terror seeping through his eyes and into his skull like cold water. _

_Maria… her name was Maria… looked at him with her shimmering, broken eyes. Her ivory hair was bloodstained and ruined as she stood and screamed, "Run, Shadow! Run-!"_

_The robot moved quickly, turning his gun over in his palm so the butt of the rifle was facing the young girl. Then he cracked it across her face with a bloody _smack.

_Shadow found the pistol in the waistband of his jeans just as the girl fell to the floor with a thud. _

"_Come now, Shadow. Be reasonable."_

_The black and red hedgehog could not stifle or contain the tears in his eyes as he aimed the revolver at the metal creature's head. He felt his fangs biting into his own lips as he fought down a sob. "Stop…" he pleaded, his legs weak and his fingers trembling. It took both of his hands to hold the gun steady in his grasp. "Or I swear to God…"_

_The robot met the gaze of the gun with an aura of cold amusement. _

"_I'll do it!" Shadow shouted, the tears searing his vision. "I will blow your brains all over the goddamned wall!"_

"_Shadow…" the girl choked from her place on the floor. The hedgehog felt his heart break in several places when he saw her innocent face plastered with blood, her nose a contorted mess that was surely broken if not shattered. "Run… get away…"_

_The metallic hedgehog returned his attention to Maria, bending down to grab her by the back of her head, his steely fingers tangling into her hair. She yelped in pain as she was wrenched to her feet and forced to stand before the indigo villain, her back to him and her eyes locked with Shadow's. _

_The barrel of the bolt-action pressed into the back of her skull. _

"_After-…" the black hedgehog cried, the tears running freely now and mixing with his voice, raspy and dying, "… after the hell you put her through!" His eyes were alight with a holy fury as he pulled back the hammer on his pistol. "I will _end _you, you bastard!"_

"_Be rational, boy." The thing made of pure evil spoke from the blackness of the nightmare, his glossy, hellish eyes glowing gasflame blue. The amber end of a cigar flared in what must have been the man's mouth. "This whole process could be quite painless, I assure you."_

_The metal monster chambered another bullet and waited._

...

"Whatsa' matter, leadlegs? Aw, ain't so freakin' high and mighty now, are ya'?"

"Yeah. Kill him dead, Johnny."

"Yeah, kill him dead."

The boy stuck his revolver back into the android's face, jabbing the barrel into the black screen of his left eye. "Yeah, that's right, ya' bastard! I gotcha' right where I want ya'!"

The organic hedgehog lifted his gun to the heavens and shouted for all the town to hear. "This is our town! Hear me? _Ours_! I been waitin' all my life to say that, and now I can." He jammed the pistol back into the robot's forehead. "This freak killed my pop when I was just a kid. And he's supposed to be protecting us? Him? Sheriff?"

He smiled widely as he pulled back the hammer and returned his attention to man at his feet. "Bull-freaking-shi-…"

Metal Sonic's talons sunk into the criminal's arm before he could finish his sentence, his metallic fingers digging through the sleeve and past the flesh like ravenous fangs, not stopping until they met bone. The steel pierced the marrow and shattered the boy's arm from the inside as he might have bitten through a toothpick.

An earth-shattering scream rang out as the organic dropped to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes like rain as the pain reached his core. He fell into the dirt unceremoniously, his gun tumbling from his grasp and just out of reach, sliding away in the sand as Metal Sonic stood to his full height and kicked it aside.

The goon's two friends backed away, shuddering in fear.

The people of Westown watched in silence.

...

_The blob nodded silently, his face breaking open into a wicked, bleached smile that would haunt the ultimate life form for years to come._

_Then the sheriff pulled the trigger. _

_Bloodstuff and greymatter gushed out of Maria's skull as the bullet drove through. Her eyes widened with shock as the red trickled down her forehead and into her gaping mouth. Her pale lips were bloodstained and lifeless even as she let out a final breath of life. _

_The bullet did not stop even though Shadow's world had come to a screeching halt. _

_And so the second round flew into his brain before he could react in time, slicing a shockingly clean line through the bone and flesh as the flaming lead cut through and into the stairs behind him. He felt cold. Very, very cold, even as he fell awkwardly onto the steps, bruising his spine and hearing something in his neck snap. A choking gasp for air escaped his maw and he dropped his pistol with a clatter. _

_"Burn it to the ground. Leave _no _witnesses."_

...

The sheriff stared at the shivering whelp in his claws, and he let his rifle fall to the floor. Upon his broken leg, he resolved not to wobble as he formed a deadly fist with his free hand.

_They._

There was a bloody _crunch _as steel met bone.

_Would never._

Cartilage broke and spattered.

_Know his failure._

Spinal cord snapped as the fresh corpse's head lolled back lifelessly, blood oozing from its decimated nose.

Metal Sonic let the body fall, casually striding over to the boy's pistol and making good use of it. Two shots rang out as the final two rebels fell dead.

Everyone looked on numbly.

And the sheriff said nothing as he replaced his fallen firearm and continued his march, knowing that the vultures now watched his every move.

...

Shadow awoke with a start, sharply inhaling the desert sand beneath him as the nightmare bled out through his eyes. His vision faltered as he struggled to determine his location, and he winced with agony as he felt sand blister within his wounds, boiling the dried blood and sending sickening tremors down his arms. He choked on pink saliva and coughed a gross concoction of blood and spit onto the dirt as he rose shakily.

The noise of the grinding gears and train-sounds had been replaced with the howling of desert winds, and the cry of vultures somewhere above him rang in his sore eardrums. He coughed blood, dry and agonizing as he struggled to catch his breath, his heart pounding out of his chest and threatening to explode out and into the arid winds.

Gaping, disgusting burns were slathered across the tattered remains of his gloves, and his once-decent overcoat now hung on his body in ribbons, clinging to his shoulders by smoldering threads. He felt numbly about for his gun, to make sure it was in its rightful place, and when he was certain of this he stood.

His breaths still came out in guttural spurts, his body aching all over with the pain of the burn-wounds. Slowly, his memories came back to him, shedding light on his reasons for being here, stranded in the middle of the endless desert hellscape.

The sunset was a bloody orange that stared into his soul as he did his damnedest to put the pieces back together.

Maria. Maria was killed that day… the day he lost his memories… and his sanity.

And the sheriff. The sheriff had the gun. He killed her. In cold blood.

The dark hedgehog snarled as he peeled a cigarette from his torn jacket. The bastard. He swiped the match along the stiff material of his gunbelt, bringing the drug to life with an amber flicker. He took a drag and told himself to calm the hell down.

He coughed suddenly and violently, and he thought he felt a rib or bone stabbing into his lungs when he inhaled.

Ark. Ark Orphanage. The Robotniks, Amy had told him.

The thought of the preacher's daughter sent an odd, cold feeling shooting through his stomach, and he brushed it aside thoughtlessly. He had to go back now. No way around it.

"Charged with crimes against Westown…" he remembered as he muttered under his breath and he realized he had lost his hat in the fall. He glanced about until he found it stuck atop a solitary cactus, and he plucked it from the plant and huffed in frustration. "Damn it all."

After he had picked the spines of the cactus out of his hat, he placed it back on his head and pulled the brim down low. Then he took another drag and doused the fag in the desert sand. The amber end sizzled in the heat.

He growled lowly, "Damn it all to hell."

...

"She dead yet?"

"No. Not yet. I'm doing my best over here."

Sonic's eyes left the window only briefly to look at the doctor and his patient, observing the bat-girl with concern before returning to the scene outside. "You've got to do better, then."

Tails sighed wearily and looked back at the bleeding assassin on his operating table. "Got it."

Silence reigned in the doctor's office.

"Tell me again what happened."

Sonic glanced tiredly at the fox.

"I already told you what happened."

"Humor me."

"… I blew her wings out."

Doc Prower sighed in frustration and seemed to gesture at the many holes in the woman's wings. "I figured that."

"What more do you want from me?" the blue hedgehog retorted, turning away from the glass to look at his old friend. "She's an assassin. She was lookin' for a Shadow. She came at me thinkin' I was him, and I shot her. And this makes the third damned time that someone in this town got shot because of this freaking Shadow-person, and the third time that it was my fault it happened."

The deposed lawman slammed an open hand against the wall and cursed loudly, his eyes alight with holy rage. "What the hell more do want outta' me, Tails? What the hell do you want?"

Rouge the bat writhed in pain in the center of it all, her holed wings flicking to and fro like a restless child's arms. Her eyes were clenched shut, but they fluttered and flickered at the noise, her ears doing the same.

Tails quickly took up a syringe and filled it to the brim, thumbing down the lever and expelling any air from the medical concoction. He skillfully pumped the drug into the girl's veins with one hand and held down her waking body with the other.

She drifted back off into the land of the living-dead as the anesthetic took effect.

"I see you're off the drink."

"The hell I am."

Sonic sighed and slumped down into the chair behind him, his boots grinding across the floorboards as he stretched them out lazily. The doc frowned at him and shook his head.

"I can tell."

"No, you can't."

"When's the last time you gave a damn about anyone getting shot in this town, Sonic?" Tails shot back, his eyes leaving his patient briefly to lock gazes with the former drunkard. "You bitch about Metal Sonic every day, but you don't do anything about it. Now, you're in my office, telling me to fix up a girl that tried to kill you, and hollering about this Shadow of yours." He pointed a bloody scalpel in the hedgehog's direction. "And you're trying to tell me you're still drunk off your ass?"

The has-been hero said nothing.

The doctor went back to work as he muttered, "I'm calling horseshit, sheriff."

That was when the door to the doctor's office slapped open with a loud bang.


	15. Chapter 15

"_I'd like to confess something, Father… Would you hear an old man's sins?"_

"_I am not God, sir. Don't confess your sins to a sinner."_

"_I can't hold this any longer. It is too great a burden on my heart. I need you to listen."_

"_Professor…"_

"_Please, Father. It's just Gerald."_

"… _Tell me your sins. The Lord will listen."_

…

The devil was at the door. His deathly, blood-red gaze invaded the dim, lamplit doctor's office, silently analyzing the room around him. He recognized the three organic life forms he saw; Doctor Miles Prower, a bloodsoaked kitsune who glanced up at him from behind the equally bloody operating table, noticing the metal menace as he entered. Rouge the bat was there, splayed upon the table like a dissected insect, her wings shredded by multiple bullet wounds. And Sonic the hedgehog, the former, inferior sheriff of Westown, sat nearby, looking tense with concern.

However, Metal Sonic was unsurprised when Sonic's stance changed the minute they locked eyes. The green gaze of justice flared like fire, and the blue hero's body shot upright in his seat.

There was a moment of terse silence as the two gunslingers stared one another down.

Then Sonic spoke. "Just what the hell are you doing here?"

The robot ignored the heat of his voice and turned slowly away from him, restraining his instinctive reaction to raise his gun in reply. He dragged his rifle across the floorboards as he marched past the entryway and moved to speak with the doctor he had come for. "It is none of your concern, citizen."

The sheriff was prepared for words, verbal disrespect, but he did not anticipate physicality. So he was caught off-guard when Sonic suddenly stood from his seat and grabbed him by the collar of his burnt trench coat. The blue hedgehog yanked the android close and growled, "Don't 'citizen' me, asshole."

The metal hedgehog's eyes flickered with brief surprise. His blood-alcohol ratio was… balanced. Impossible. Sonic the hedgehog was a chronic alcoholic. This man who held him by the throat now… sharp, fiery, alert… was not.

He forced down his momentary shock, instead opting to glare back at Sonic with cold hellfire in his gaze. "I am not here for you, _Sonic_," he hissed lowly, venomously. "I am here for Miles Prower."

Sonic snorted in disbelief, curling up his fist in the tattered leather of the robot's jacket. "Right. The doc's with a patient." He glanced down at the metal man's wiry, broken leg. "You can wait."

Metal Sonic was unfazed but impatient. "No. I cannot."

He raised one of his claws and began to pry Sonic's gloved fingers away from his throat. But his flesh counterpart would not relent. His grip tightened and he pulled him closer.

"Let me rephrase that," the ex-sheriff snarled, half-sneering. "You're going to sit down and_ wait_."

The indigo hedgehog attacked, slamming one of his open-palmed talons into the organic's neck, choking him and shoving him towards a wall. The two stood at a stalemate, each with a hand on the other's throat, each refusing to give way. Sonic grinned madly beneath the weight of his adversary's claws, and Metal Sonic only stared with the intensity of a red-hot sun.

"Release me or I will kill you," the sheriff promised.

"Ooh," Sonic chuckled, "I'm shaking."

"The doctor will see you now!"

Tails suddenly appeared beside them, dividing the two enemies and narrowly avoiding disaster. He was wiping his brow of sweat, but whether that was from fear of losing a patient or the fear of facing Metal Sonic was unclear. He extended a gloved but bloodied hand to the sheriff and greeted him with forced nonchalance. "Doc Prower, sir. How can I help you this evening?"

The android refused to take his hand or release his flesh counterpart's gaze, and as he looked at Sonic he spoke to the doctor calmly and clearly. "My leg is shattered beyond self-repair. I require your services."

The fox placed a hand over his mouth and feigned concern. "Huh. Never worked on a robot before, come to think of it. I've tinkered with machines in my spare time, but-…"

"I do not wish for conversation," Metal Sonic told him, finally turning towards him to give him his full attention. "I need medical attention."

Tails swallowed hard and nodded. "Understood. Let me show you to the back room. We've been kind of crowded lately."

Sonic found himself alone with his thoughts as the doctor left the room with his patient. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, and he steadied it with the palm of his hand and let out a sigh.

The wounded Rouge writhed and moaned atop the table suddenly, her body tensing as she desperately fought the pain in her sleep. Her fingertips clawed at nothing, one hand clasping the empty air above her.

All fear and anger evaporated from his body at the sight of the dying assassin, and he felt his feet carrying him towards her out of compassionate reflex. He stepped quickly and spoke softly to her deaf ears. "Hey, hey."

He took her hand in his and she relaxed in his grasp. He squeezed her palm and sat down beside her, his heart aching when her eyelids fluttered open and their gazes met. The drugs prevented her from speaking, but the faded green of her irises spoke volumes. Then she fell back into darkness.

Sonic sighed wearily and pleaded with her gentle silence. "Don't you die on me," he said quietly. "Lord alive, I don't think I can handle it this time."

…

"_I have defied God, Father. My experiments… my research… my son."_

"_Your son?"_

"_Shadow… he was created in my lab. I was… he was designed to be immortal. Something no organic being has ever achieved. God will judge me for this, but I hope he will understand. I was trying to build a lifeform powerful enough to… to cure…"_

"_To save Maria. Oh my God, Gerald…"_

"_You must never tell her this. It would break her heart to know that her brother was nothing more than a means to an end."_

"_How? You made him… all this time, I thought he was just an orphaned boy." _

"_Far from it. He is the ultimate life form. Immune to all diseases and illnesses. His body is capable of regenerating lost tissue and reforming broken bones."_

"_A demon."_

"_My son."_

…

"So. Let me make certain that I understand just exactly what happened tonight, Metal Sonic."

Metal Sonic remained silent and still upon the floor, his eyes locked with the cigar ashes that drifted around him in a stormcloud of hellish smoke and darkness. His once-broken knee rested strangely against the oak flooring, the metallic insides scraping into the wood despite his best efforts to keep completely motionless.

"You… _diverted _theattention of one of GUN's finest assassins. Killed several civilians onboard a train, _then _allowed renegades to detonate an explosive on top of said train…"

The robot did not look up even when he heard his master rise from his desk with a heavy groan that shook the floorboards. The solid clacking sounds of boots stomping around the table echoed through the mayor's office as Robotnik approached his damaged creation with contempt in his stance.

"… And then you let the hedgehog get away."

The android's gaze shot upwards, struggling to meet the glossy blue eyes of his creator. The amber end of his cigarette blazed brightly in the dark. "Sir, I-!"

The backhand was inevitable and predictable, but still the mayor's fat fist bashed into the sheriff's skull and tossed him to the floor. His eyes flickered in the black as he cracked into the wooden ground.

"Get up."

Metal Sonic obeyed. He was rewarded with another powerful smack that threw him back into the bars of the jail cell behind him.

Robotnik huffed a plume of cigar smoke and began to pace the room, thinking aloud as he did so. "Because of your failure, Shadow will no doubt return for revenge. He is no fool." The deranged doctor shot a white-hot glare at the robot. "He recognized you. Just as I feared he might."

The metal menace was forced to pull himself up by the steel bars of the cage as he stood on his broken leg and faced his master. Leaning oddly into the cell, he waited with ravenous, crimson eyes.

Mayor Robotnik huffed again, his nostrils flaring like a raging bull's as he desperately decided what must be done. GUN could not help him now. Rouge the bat was of no more use to them; yet another waste of a killer. He was out of options. Unless…

His sweat suddenly turned cold.

Metal Sonic watched in confusion as the doctor rushed back to his desk, shoving his chair aside and ducking beneath the table. The robot listened intently as a false floorboard was torn from its place, and something heavy with chains and locks was ripped from the earth. Then he stared on in greater wonder as the steel safe landed with a loud _smack _atop the mayor's desk.

The greasy strands of the human's mustache quivered with anticipation, and the folds of skin beneath his jacket ran slick with coldsweat. He glared hard at the sheriff through his indigo goggles, and he didn't bother saving his cigar as it toppled out of his open mouth. "Do you realize what you have forced me to do, cur?"

The android did not respond.

With a grunt, the professor undid the many locks surrounding the strongbox, casting away the chains and inputting the correct combination.

The door was flung open after several tense minutes. And the glow of a bleeding, ruby jewel illuminated the room with its mystical power.

Metal Sonic's eyes seemed to widen with an audible whirring sound. He felt his energies competing with that of the magic power that crackled in the night air around him as he limped towards the legendary gem. "That's…"

"One of seven," Robotnik said, nodding grimly. "Only _one _of seven."

He wrenched the Chaos Emerald from the box and beheld it to his creation, his meaty fingers clasping tightly to the sharpened edges of the stone. "But I happen to know where the other six are."

…

"_There is only one thing that can destroy him. I ask you… I beg you, Father, to take it someplace safe."_

"_Gerald, you are my friend and a godly member of my flock. But this… _spawn _of evil you've created…"_

"_He would never hurt an innocent soul, and you know that."_

"_You're asking me to go against God."_

"_I'm asking you to help me. This case… it holds the only known substance that can kill my boy. He does not know of them. But my grandson…"_

"_Ivo?"_

"_Father, he will kill me. And he will do it soon. I cannot allow this to fall into his hands."_

"_I don't understand."_

"_You will. Shadow will not die. He will leave, as he has wanted to for the majority of his teenage life, ha. But then, he will return. And I will not be here to protect him."_

"_I have my own child to protect."_

"_I'm not asking you to protect him, Father Rose. I'm asking you to keep these bullets out of the devil's gun. And to keep Shadow away from this godforsaken place."_

…

Shadow awoke in a stranger's bed with a piercing pain in his stomach and the dull, unrelenting throb of a headache pounding within his skull. He slowly blinked the haze of exhaustion and agony out of his eyes, shaking his head and rising to a sitting position. His vision blurred as he scanned the room around him, finding it strangely familiar. Dim, sunspotted beams of light bled through a dusty window and illuminated the darkness to his tired eyes.

The black hedgehog rose from the bed, and as the world spun to a nauseating halt, he recognized the warm, crowded guest room that he had stayed in the night prior. He was back at the Rose ranch. Shadow groaned as a stab of pain bolted through his brain, and he stumbled for the door, clutching his forehead.

He staggered to the door and pried it open, and he was immediately blinded as a yellowy ball of sickly sunlight smacked him square in the face. He flinched and blinked rapidly in an attempt to regain his bearings. Then his eyes widened at the man on the other side of the door.

"Father Rose?"

The preacher glanced up from his Bible and seemed to strain a smile. He folded the book closed and set it aside, atop a small table beside his chair. Then he rose to meet the dark hedgehog, his hand extended like they were meeting for the first time.

"Shadow the hedgehog."


End file.
